A review by cueba
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Oh this is a tough one! Personally, I liked it. But you will definitely not like it if you expect this as a dystopian novel with its usual suspense and shebangs. It's calmer than that and the book is more of a slice-of-life which happens to be set in a post-apocalyptic world. Don't expect the book to propose new ideas in the dystopia genre

Very minimal spoiler that details on the antagonist:
The Prophet is not that vital in the plot and it's not really intended to. Don't expect a suspenseful chase of sorts. He's nicely written though! I love the approach on the identity reveal.

The prose is so damn good but it barely has any plot. Some main characters also have not much of personality. Very minimal spoiler that details on the protagonists:
Kirsten (the main protag and the actress) is not that distinct but her narration is nice. I liked Miranda and Clark (since they are arguably the most fleshed-out characters). There's also Jeevan but hmm... there's a big time-skip from pre to post so he's a bit wonky and didn't really mattered—though, his pre-apocalyptic life is nicely written.


On to the prose: it's good. Like so-many-highlights-good. The tone is consistent (that is: slow) and I loved how it's built up—this is a book that seems planned from start to finish. I personally liked how the Prophet is handled but it might not be enough for others. The ending is heartwarming and I think it's such a fitting end! Solid read, and I'll definitely check out the author's other books! :)
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