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booksandcatsandtea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
pepperonipie'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
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma
cheysbookishbrain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall it was a middle of the road book for me. It was neither great nor terrible. I didn't personally find it super disturbing or anything, but I also don't tend to find anything too too terrible.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
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
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
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
lindsaylhunter'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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Medical trauma
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
blackcoffeedaydreams'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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic