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anna_pardo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Terrible decepció... M'ha agradat, però sense res especial.
La part apocalíptica trobo que està força ben desenvolupada, sobretot tenint en compte que es va escriure abans de la pandèmia. Les diferents actituds d'enfrontament a la situació dels personatges m'han semblat molt creïbles, i la velocitat en que tot se'n pot anar en orris també.
La part post-apocalíptica m'hauria d'haver agradat més. Trobo que el missatge hopepunk, més evident sobretot al final, no casa amb certes trames a les que inicialment s'hi dona molta importància.
Però el conjunt, no m'ha funcionat. No he entès massa perquè l'autora decideix centrar-se en certs personatges i certes històries, i els salts entre les diferents línies temporals i protagonistes també semblen bastant aleatoris i despenjats del que està passant al nivell principal.
Una llàstima, té molt potencial.
La part apocalíptica trobo que està força ben desenvolupada, sobretot tenint en compte que es va escriure abans de la pandèmia. Les diferents actituds d'enfrontament a la situació dels personatges m'han semblat molt creïbles, i la velocitat en que tot se'n pot anar en orris també.
La part post-apocalíptica m'hauria d'haver agradat més. Trobo que el missatge hopepunk, més evident sobretot al final, no casa amb certes trames a les que inicialment s'hi dona molta importància.
Però el conjunt, no m'ha funcionat. No he entès massa perquè l'autora decideix centrar-se en certs personatges i certes històries, i els salts entre les diferents línies temporals i protagonistes també semblen bastant aleatoris i despenjats del que està passant al nivell principal.
Una llàstima, té molt potencial.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
bootsmom3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
erikwmj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
helfire124's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Excellent book about the struggle to keep your humanity after the end of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
ottercorg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I had heard nothing but amazing things about this book...so unfortunately I had very high expectations and ended up feeling a bit let down. I think if I wasn't spending the whole time wondering, "When does it get as good as everyone said it is?" I would've enjoyed it a lot more.
However! About halfway through I did start to really dig my teeth into it. As with a lot of the books I've read recently, once things started to fall into place and I started to see the connections, I got a lot more interested.
The concept is certainly interesting, the characters were fine, I just wanted...more.
I wish it had been two books. One about "the before" and one about "the after," but I understand that you can't predict success and if you aren't sure you'll get a second book deal, you might as well put both stories in one.
However! About halfway through I did start to really dig my teeth into it. As with a lot of the books I've read recently, once things started to fall into place and I started to see the connections, I got a lot more interested.
The concept is certainly interesting, the characters were fine, I just wanted...more.
I wish it had been two books. One about "the before" and one about "the after," but I understand that you can't predict success and if you aren't sure you'll get a second book deal, you might as well put both stories in one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
pacifickat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
*Long Review Ahead...Reader Be Warned*
This book sits between genres: a mix of end-of-the-world sci-fi, literary fiction, and an odd collection of character-driven stories around a few pivotal events, told and re-told from a variety of perspectives. This is a book of frame narratives, questioning which stories and moments define other stories and moments in meaningful ways. It is structured more like a network of coral making up a reef rather than a linear A-to-B journey.
A lot of disappointed reviewers seemed to want this book to be more than it was, the plot to follow a traditional post-apocalyptic road narrative, with characters fighting for survival in a dystopian landscape punctuated by violent encounters. However, Mandel seems to resist these expected devices, focusing instead on how humans are connected across time and space, nature and technology, and generations. The pandemic in this story demarcates a divide between past and present, a clear before and after. But, is existence more than our perceived notion of time and oir relationship to pivotal moments in history? Does a web of interconnectivity carry through all existence even when we cannot perceive it, even when the world seemingly ends? What is this reality we’re living in? Is it patterned beforehand, or only when looked at it in retrospect, like a forest ecosystem growing organically together? Can meaning and beauty miraculously arise out of mundanity and messiness? Is being briefly and beautifully alive and part of a cosmic whole enough of a miracle in itself? Do we make stories, or do the stories make us? What exists because of us, and what exists outside of us?
It’s complicated.This story dodges traditional plot structure, and instead provides nonchronological glimpses of the lives of individuals trying to find the answer to what can make existence sufficient, whether it be love, career, art, travel, memory, playing a part, rescuing others, religious fanaticism, joining a cause, controlling a narrative, collecting objects, or collecting stories. I will outline a couple major themes I found compelling, but I think this book by nature opens up a Pandora’s box of possibly reader takeaways.
A lot of disappointed reviewers seemed to want this book to be more than it was, the plot to follow a traditional post-apocalyptic road narrative, with characters fighting for survival in a dystopian landscape punctuated by violent encounters. However, Mandel seems to resist these expected devices, focusing instead on how humans are connected across time and space, nature and technology, and generations. The pandemic in this story demarcates a divide between past and present, a clear before and after. But, is existence more than our perceived notion of time and oir relationship to pivotal moments in history? Does a web of interconnectivity carry through all existence even when we cannot perceive it, even when the world seemingly ends? What is this reality we’re living in? Is it patterned beforehand, or only when looked at it in retrospect, like a forest ecosystem growing organically together? Can meaning and beauty miraculously arise out of mundanity and messiness? Is being briefly and beautifully alive and part of a cosmic whole enough of a miracle in itself? Do we make stories, or do the stories make us? What exists because of us, and what exists outside of us?
It’s complicated.
1. “Survival is insufficient” but existence is beautiful, sometimes breathtakingly so.
The interwoven storylines are occasionally punctuated by rhapsodic descriptions of moonlight on water, flowers and trees, slant sunlight, an impossibly blue sky, a paperweight that looks like trapped storm clouds, an illustration of the undersea. Likewise, technological wonders such as the internet, air travel, electric lights, refrigeration, television, and worldwide shipping networks go underappreciated before the flu, yet supply curious wonder in a post-pandemic world filled with the artifacts of their once-existence. Generally, it is these non-human elements which supply miraculous beauty and wonder in spite of the mundanity and distraction of human life, the messiness of human behavior, the horror of human violence.
2. There is an interconnected, overlapping web of individuals and events across time and realities – linking pre-pandemic lives to the post-pandemic world, and a graphic novel storyline that bleeds into both.
Everything is interconnected, the natural world and human-operated technologies, yet these marvelous (and tenuous) webs exist under the radar of most. The reader has the privilege to be the one who can see how everything touches, even as those living within the connections are unable to perceive them, except on rare occasions when the curtain of awareness is drawn upward.
This seeming magic encircles and envelops conscious existence, but goes unnoticed by the humans navigating the complexities of the pre-pandemic modern world, or fighting to survive in post-pandemic reality. A repeated element of looking upward to the sky when faced with death carries throughout, perhaps searching for sufficient meaning or beauty when survival is not guaranteed and everything finally falls still. Is this akin to the sublime moment the actress dissolves into Titania on stage, her stained wedding gown becoming the adornment of a magical fairy queen?
This seeming magic encircles and envelops conscious existence, but goes unnoticed by the humans navigating the complexities of the pre-pandemic modern world, or fighting to survive in post-pandemic reality. A repeated element of looking upward to the sky when faced with death carries throughout, perhaps searching for sufficient meaning or beauty when survival is not guaranteed and everything finally falls still. Is this akin to the sublime moment the actress dissolves into Titania on stage, her stained wedding gown becoming the adornment of a magical fairy queen?
3. The idea that “everything happens for a reason” is not the same as “everything is connected" or "the miracle of existence somehow adds up to more than the sum of its parts.”
One idea impoverishes, the other gives way to impossible wonder. One seeks to explain individual experiences, the other accepts the impossibility of grasping all the strands, and revels in the piece of reality we get to live within, and sometimes consciously perceive. The idea that “everything happens for a reason” runs against the grain of this story. This assumption leads to a mother-son combo having excuses for regrettable behaviors, an inability to cope with present realities, benign and malicious expressions of naivete, disconnection from others due to a sense of being “chosen” or set apart from the rest for a separate purpose, and a disturbing god complex. It’s self-important, it’s controlling, and ultimately it flies in the face of the interconnectedness and beauty the reader glimpses through the cracks in each narrative.
4. Suggestions of alternate realities and universes.
A conversation about physics and a multiverse, a few mentions of ghosts and the dead following the living, and a nonlinear storyline seem to suggest that time is not as concrete as the reader and the characters might assume. What do these mean in terms of possibilities? How much are we unable to perceive? Is the web that connects existence unbound by time? Is any of this ultimately knowable? I hope her other related novels tap into this a bit more.
I'm giving this one 4 stars because I am genuinely still thinking about it and probably will continue to mull over the story for quite a while. One star down because at points the story did drag and could be a bit frustrating (where are my troupe of actors and why am I hearing about this dead actor and his ex-wives again?). All in all, a solid read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
stellaperlic's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this book so much! Mandel always writes these eerie stories with so much character insight, interesting plot points, and hopeful/insightful endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry
spineofthesaurus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Pregnancy
miller8d's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Absolutely loved the storytelling technique, world-building, and flow of descriptive language.
Note: I pictured Richard Ayoade as Jeevan, Jesse Plemons as August, Con O’Neill as Dieter, Andrew Garfield as Sayid, Andre Michaan very faintly as Clark, and a wishy-washy mix of Tom Hiddleston/Brian Cox as Arthur.
Note: I pictured Richard Ayoade as Jeevan, Jesse Plemons as August, Con O’Neill as Dieter, Andrew Garfield as Sayid, Andre Michaan very faintly as Clark, and a wishy-washy mix of Tom Hiddleston/Brian Cox as Arthur.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
I added lots of content warnings for this book, but as a pretty sensitive person, I can honestly say I didn’t find this book upsetting— moreso realistic in an apocalyptic context. It touches on many serious topics but it does so in a justified and non-shocking way.vita_ayala's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I didn't realize this was a book about a pandemic until I started it (I didn't read the synopsis), and I almoat put it down. So glad I didn't!
Bittersweet, sometimes amusing, always melancholy and comtemplative, this book does an incredible job of distilling the emotion and humanity behind Shakespeare's work and presenting it in a contemporary, compelling way. (It isn I think obviously, a take on King Lear.) A little like disguising healthy but odd tasting food with spices and sauces.
I wish the comic from inside the book was a thing I could read!
Bittersweet, sometimes amusing, always melancholy and comtemplative, this book does an incredible job of distilling the emotion and humanity behind Shakespeare's work and presenting it in a contemporary, compelling way. (It isn I think obviously, a take on King Lear.) A little like disguising healthy but odd tasting food with spices and sauces.
I wish the comic from inside the book was a thing I could read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
It does end up veing hopeful in the end!