You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
rain02's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, and Torture
Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal death
unlivinh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
leahroyelle's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death
bigteo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
After the strong start of the novel, it kinda slows down and becomes a fairly straightforward “characters go from A to B” zombie thriller. I thought that the medical themes were actually very well researched and interesting and definitely some of the strongest parts of the book for me.
None of the characters were really likeable for me. I kinda liked the soldier characters, they were okay and their actions were on the whole reasonable. The teacher character, Justineau, was actually incredibly fustrating to me. A good example is when she decides to set off the flare gun after Melanie is only gone for one night. Why didn’t she wait until they fixed the armoured lab/truck thing? Setting off the flare didn’t even get Melanie to come back faster, she came back the next morning as if nothing happened. And it had barely any consequence to the plot, but it just had me so angry that she acted so irrationally. Same goes for how violent she was with the doctor character. I didn’t care for the doctor but her motives at least kinda made sense. The characters are allowed to hate eachother that’s fine, but for example near the end (spoilers ahead) when the doctor is being chased by the pack of hungry kids, she could’ve explained that’s what had happened and it was self defence, plus she got a good intact brain to test on which could potentially save all of their lives. I don’t know. Just unlikeable characters that all, in turn, don’t like eachother. So therefore I didn’t like them all that much either.
As for the ending (spoiler warning obviously but I’ll try to be brief), it ended super abruptly. The wall of fungus was something introduced in the last couple of chapters. And the military guy Parks decides to burn it. I thought for sure they’d at least try and drive through it maybe? The silver lining to the ending that Melanie proposes seems more of an afterthought. Like, “burning it screwed up the whole world, oh well maybe good can come of it” and not something that the characters would have had to wrestle with beforehand. Maybe that conflict could have been more central, I don’t know. The world ending part kind of just happens in the last few pages without any buildup or conflict to the decision to burn the fungus wall.
I know this review seems very negative but on the whole it’s a very straightforward, interesting zombie apocalypse book. I guess if you’re a fan of the genre then this book isn’t exactly groundbreaking but it’s a fun enough read that I got through pretty quickly.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
leligavi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
morsecode's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Violence, Medical content, and Cannibalism
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
ketreads's review against another edition
5.0
I had the lady in the bookshop commend me on my good choice of book when buying this so if that wasn't a good sign, what is?!
The story follows our main character of Melanie and mainly takes place from her point of view. I thought it was a great use of PoV and while Melanie is clearly a child, she isn't wilfully ignorant. We get to watch her constantly having to reassess her view of the world with every new tid bit of information. It was both a joy and saddening to see her view on the world and those around her.
The other cast character were equally fantastic. I love that we get a little insight into each character as we get further into the book, as this helps us better sympathise and understand character motivations. Even when I cannot agree with a characters choices, I can understand how and why they came to these and I think it shows just how great of an author Carey is.
MILD SPOILERS
But I did not know this book was a zombie book going in. The blurb is sufficently vague to make this a very earlyon reveal but Carey does a impressive job at making this story feel unique. The zombies themselves, while similar to ones we've seen previously, also have an extra layer of mystery surrounding them that is used to great effect throughout. I never felt this book retrod any ground I've seen other zombie media do and I appreciated the hell out of it. Also, it's set in my home city of London! Who doesn't love seeing landmarks and going ''wow! That zombie infested area is an area I visit!!!''
All round a 5/5 read and I'd highly reccommend you get around to reading it, too :D
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, and Murder
lpogo16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story could have been edited down. There’s a lot that happens for the shock value or to make comments about other characters.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping
Spores, Mushrooms, Fungusblackberryjambaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, and Abortion