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cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Every zombie book that's caught my interest always has a unique angle on the fictional science as well as social commentary. This one executes the tropes well, but not in a particularly new or fascinating way. The novel also spends the first chunk setting readers up to despise a number of the main characters, so I was lacking a concern or connection to make action scenes impactful. That lack of emotion probably also affected the pacing - I prefer there to be action or suspense to push such a story forward, and this story failed to create that for me.
In general, an entertaining but not very impactful read for me.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism and 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
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
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, Funguscaptainsillypants's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
blackberryjambaby'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
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
trayslays's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
prufrockpreptooth'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Genocide, Grief, and War