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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Die Berufene by M.R. Carey

15 reviews

shieldbearer's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An extremely strong showing from Mike Carey, who I know from his work on X-Men. The characterizations were very well done for the most part- most of them are quite layered. The worldbuilding was strong, and the reviewers asking questions about motivations and "evolution" clearly didn't pay attention because those things were explained in the text. 

Ultimately, a few small things did knock this book down by a star for me. For one, I would have
at least switched the fates of Parks and Gallagher, though I also think you could make an argument for Gallagher's survival being more interesting than his death given the detailed backstory and internal conflict he's given. His interaction with the status quo at the end of the story would have been extremely interesting IMO
Part of this may be because I didn't particularly care for Parks, but this is also because Parks doesn't really have anything interesting going on. 

For another, I feel as though
the Hungry children were too easy to corral at the end.
The questions of the long-term viability of Melanie's plan didn't bother me because  that's not the point of the story. 

Finally, and most glaring IMO,
I feel like Sparks would have encoutnered pregnant hungries if they are able to sexually reproduce. I just have a hard time believing this aspect without a little extra narrative support - especially given how often fatal pregnancy is, and how the fungus wrecks so much of the body and shuts down a lot of its systems. Even mentioning a pregnant hungry in the crowd would have helped. I also can't say I'm a fan of the whole "sex is a human instinct" theme. I expected there to be adult hungries like Melanie that showed up later, if they specified that only the kids were the unique ones earlier I somehow missed it.


Either way, I definitely recommend this even if I feel some elements could have been treated with a bit more care- which is about what I would say about his work on the X-Men, as well. 
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reddeddy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ohhellokelli's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-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

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marthadude's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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tiemzahra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Melanie’s routine was fixed every day. Every day, she would wait to be picked from her cell to the classroom, at gunpoint and strapped in a chair. She thought they didn’t like her. 
 
This is a story of zombie apocalypse and I thought I could never be interested with this genre. I bought this book with the prospective of extraordinary kid, never thought she would be a zombie/hungry. But I stand corrected.
This book has given the perspective I always look for in a book - moral ambiguity. 
 
Introducing Sergeant Parks, the military guy who was rigid, had no exceptions in his rules; hungries are hungries, no matter if they look human or a literal child. He would treat them with contempt, because for him, they were threats. Dr. Caldwell, a purely logical-thinking scientist, treating the kid hungries as test subjects. They were important for the sake of humanity progression. Feeling sorry for them only hinder their progress with the dying civilisation. And Miss Justineau, despite the nature of the kids, treated them with compassion. She believed they were just innocent sensitive kids and didn’t deserve any of the mistreatments in the centre. 
 
Miss Justineau might be the most morally right, but with the current situation they were in, you would understand both Parks and Caldwell’s POV, and will be stuck in moral dilemmas.
I personally agree with the three of them at different situations, and even Miss Justineau at times was being dramatic that she almost jeopardised the whole crew. Parks’ instinct ensured their survival, while Caldwell’s study led to the new world they had to prepare for. While Justineau, with her compassionate personality, would be educating the future leaders of the new world.
I just concluded that these three distinctions were necessary to keep them going. 
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