Search
Search results
David McK (3227 KP) rated A Quiet Place (2018) in Movies
Aug 23, 2020 (Updated Jan 10, 2023)
I'd heard good stuff about this film.
They lied.
Slow, plodding, and lacking any sense of peril or tension, this is set in a post-apocalyptic world where seemingly invulnerable blind monsters (which we're never told where they come from) hunt by sound, and sound alone - which explains why there's not even any bird song. This then follows a tight-knit family trying to survive in this new reality, complete with a deaf kid and a mother about to give birth.
Yes, all the cliches are here: creaking floorboards, jagged nails sticking up from the wood, a kid who blames herself for the loss of her younger sibling early on in the film ...
About the only good thing I can say is that this is short, with a running time of just over 1.5 hours.
They lied.
Slow, plodding, and lacking any sense of peril or tension, this is set in a post-apocalyptic world where seemingly invulnerable blind monsters (which we're never told where they come from) hunt by sound, and sound alone - which explains why there's not even any bird song. This then follows a tight-knit family trying to survive in this new reality, complete with a deaf kid and a mother about to give birth.
Yes, all the cliches are here: creaking floorboards, jagged nails sticking up from the wood, a kid who blames herself for the loss of her younger sibling early on in the film ...
About the only good thing I can say is that this is short, with a running time of just over 1.5 hours.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Station Eleven in Books
Sep 6, 2017
Okay?
This was marketed as a dystopia, but it’s really more post-Apocalypse fiction. There’s a fine line between the two – and sometimes things can straddle it – but I wouldn’t call this a dystopia. So I’m a little disappointed there. Otherwise, it was good. I’m left not really sure how I should feel about it, though. I prefer books that make me feel a certain way – romances make me happy, non-fiction usually makes me feel smarter, like I’ve learned something, graphic novels make me nostalgic. I’m even okay with books like The Fault in Our Stars, or The Crown’s Game, that left me a weeping mess. Station Eleven just left me with an “…o-kay?” Like, what am I supposed to do with this? Unlike most dystopias, I don’t feel like it was a social commentary because it’s post-apocalyptic. (In this case, a virus swept through and killed about 99% of Earth’s population.) But at the same time, because it details events both before and after the apocalypse, I feel like it was trying to be?
See my full review at https://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/book-review-station-eleven/
See my full review at https://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/book-review-station-eleven/
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Uglies (Uglies, #1) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
The style of writing reminded me a bit of the Twilight saga, fast-paced, with lots of teenager-style lingo mixed in. I loved all the the little details that created the world of "post-Rusties," such as the groups of people - Uglies; New, Middle, and Late Pretties; Special Circumstances; Smokies and New Smokies - as well as the shortened version of names - Tally, Ellie, Sol, Croy, Shay, Peris, Astrix, etc. The way that our world is portrayed in comparison to the world in the book is also interesting in various details such as telling the difference between roller coasters and railroads, Tally's reactions to eating meat and making clothing from animal skins, David still referring to his parents as "Mom" and "Dad", and Tally finding David's name odd. The reader sees the negative aspect of the way we presently live, as well as the positive and negative aspects to living in the extreme opposite of "Rusty". It seems that neither extreme is the answer, but rather finding the "happy medium," which is rarely ever easy. This post-apocalyptic world fits right in with works such as 1984, Anthem, and Brave New World. I look forward to continuing the series with the next book, Pretties.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated The Curse: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller in Books
Mar 15, 2019
Who Can Defy The Curse?It's been thirty years since the End War destroyed civilization as we know it.
Now a terrible curse hangs over the survivors, one that's pushing them towards a slow and painful extinction.
Unless...
A group of women, known as 'The Complex', have banded together to rebuild and survive in the heart of New York.
Despite the odds, these women aren't going down without a fight. Organized and resourceful, they've set out to rebuild the human race no matter what the cost.
But can it be done?
Can anyone defy the curse?
This was quite a surprise story. This was a story of post apocalyptic New York. We have some great characters and the description of life afterwards was very believable.
This is a great plot and different take on this subject. Lots of twists and surprises here and looking forward to reading more,
Now a terrible curse hangs over the survivors, one that's pushing them towards a slow and painful extinction.
Unless...
A group of women, known as 'The Complex', have banded together to rebuild and survive in the heart of New York.
Despite the odds, these women aren't going down without a fight. Organized and resourceful, they've set out to rebuild the human race no matter what the cost.
But can it be done?
Can anyone defy the curse?
This was quite a surprise story. This was a story of post apocalyptic New York. We have some great characters and the description of life afterwards was very believable.
This is a great plot and different take on this subject. Lots of twists and surprises here and looking forward to reading more,
Ross (3282 KP) rated The Change 6: Tokyo: Noriko's Story in Books
Nov 6, 2020
A decent self-contained post-apocalyptic novella
The (seemingly) final instalment in the Change series takes another turn and moves setting to the Japanese capital Tokyo. Where we have seen western cities pretty much out of control and descended into either Walking Dead style chaos or Mad Max style tribalism, we now have Tokyo. Everything is controlled by an AI called HA/HA. Noriko's story is told by a narrator, whose identity isn't revealed until late on and is a nice twist. She is on the run from the Electric Samurai, sentinel-like robots that police the city, just trying to get home. As with the rest of the series, she meets strange people along the way and sees unusual events.
Unlike with the previous books, this one has a satisfying ending. Sadly, it didn't close off the loose ends from the other books as I had hoped.
Unlike with the previous books, this one has a satisfying ending. Sadly, it didn't close off the loose ends from the other books as I had hoped.
I do like a post-apocalyptic kind of book, and this delivered in spades. It was written in a completely believable way, beginning with a second American Civil war, that was ended by the North releasing hundreds of airborne viruses that infected and killed those in the South indiscriminately. And those viruses continue to kill.
Vida meets two brothers, Garrett and Dyce, and they travel together in a world where to travel alone is death, to travel or to be outside when the wind blows is death.
I loved the world building in this. There will always be comparisons to Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’ with books like this, but other than viruses and a complete breakdown of society, I couldn’t actually see a comparison.
I’m looking forward to reading ‘North’, which is the final part of this two part series, and seeing where the authors take us.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Corvus, for my copy of this book.
Vida meets two brothers, Garrett and Dyce, and they travel together in a world where to travel alone is death, to travel or to be outside when the wind blows is death.
I loved the world building in this. There will always be comparisons to Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’ with books like this, but other than viruses and a complete breakdown of society, I couldn’t actually see a comparison.
I’m looking forward to reading ‘North’, which is the final part of this two part series, and seeing where the authors take us.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Corvus, for my copy of this book.
Loz Hughes (80 KP) rated The 100 in TV
Jul 17, 2018
Raises interesting morality questions in a post apocalyptic environment (earth)/in space. (1 more)
Subsequent series develop and enrich the storyline
Quite teeny to start with in the first series but the second and third start to get more gripping.
I was recommended this series by my best friend and to start with it appeared a bit budget and awkward in parts, but as the episodes and series progressed you developed a feel for the different characters and gained more enjoyment from the storyline itself.
For me I found the morality aspect interesting. Who do you pick to explore a potentially deadly planet? Who gets to survive in space when theres limited oxygen levels etc?
Still following the series since the first one, so I guess its pretty good if im still watching it three years later or so :).
If you like survival, sci fi, and lord of the flies it should appeal.
For me I found the morality aspect interesting. Who do you pick to explore a potentially deadly planet? Who gets to survive in space when theres limited oxygen levels etc?
Still following the series since the first one, so I guess its pretty good if im still watching it three years later or so :).
If you like survival, sci fi, and lord of the flies it should appeal.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles, #1) in Books
Jan 8, 2021
3.75 stars.
Um...Okay...I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.
I liked the whole will they/wont they thing between Evie and Jackson but at the same time it drove me mad with the continuous misunderstandings and stuff between them. Why couldn't they just explain themselves better?!
And it was dystopia/post apocalyptic, which is another bonus because I really like those type of books: sandy, scorched earth; hardly any survivors...
What I wasn't particularly a fan of was the tarot card thing. I'll admit it grew on me throughout and at the end I'd gotten used to it and was more into the concept but at the start I had no idea what was happening and sort of skated over the dreams and such.
After the ending I will admit to be very intrigued with how the rest of the series will play out so I will be reading the second book soon.
Um...Okay...I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.
I liked the whole will they/wont they thing between Evie and Jackson but at the same time it drove me mad with the continuous misunderstandings and stuff between them. Why couldn't they just explain themselves better?!
And it was dystopia/post apocalyptic, which is another bonus because I really like those type of books: sandy, scorched earth; hardly any survivors...
What I wasn't particularly a fan of was the tarot card thing. I'll admit it grew on me throughout and at the end I'd gotten used to it and was more into the concept but at the start I had no idea what was happening and sort of skated over the dreams and such.
After the ending I will admit to be very intrigued with how the rest of the series will play out so I will be reading the second book soon.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Z For Zachariah (2015) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Drop-dead gorgeous, it's so refreshing to see a post-apocalyptic drama that doesn't turn its characters into flat, unfeeling beings nor mostly take place in some crusty, rehashed wasteland. Not that this is secretly some masterpiece or anything, it isn't - it really begins to wake up (expectedly) as soon as Chris Pine enters the picture - but it flows along unwaveringly at a low, melodic hum with breathtaking locales and invigorating music. All three leads are exceptional, and while it isn't even a fraction of the thematic powerhouse it could have been it still manages to wring a commendable amount of captivating intrigue out of its simplistic setup. Can't stress enough how addictive the atmosphere is: calm and homey, beautiful, yet inevitable and bleak as hell. Meets some sort of transcendent crossroads between "The Last of Us" and "Unravel", in video game speak. This Craig Zobel guy really knew what he was doing with this, god damn - one heck of a genre tonic.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated By the Feet of Men in Books
Oct 5, 2020
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
<img src="https://i0.wp.com/diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Book-Review-Banner-80.png?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1"/>;
By the Feet of Men by Grant Price is a very good post-apocalyptic novel, full of adventures and danger. I am glad I got the chance to read and review this book. Thank you to the author, Grant Price, for sending me a copy of his book in exchange for my honest review.
<b><i>Synopsis:</i></b>
The book is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the world’s population has been decimated by the Change, a chain reaction of events triggered by global warming. Governments have fallen and cities have crumbled. The productions have stopped. The Alps region, which contains the continent’s fresh water, has become a closed state with heavily fortified borders.
The ones that managed to survive cling on by trading through the Runners, truck drivers who deliver cargo and take a percentage. Two Runners, Cassady and Ghazi are called to deliver medical supplies to a research base deep in the Italian desert, where scientists claim to be building a machine that could reverse the effects of the Change.
On this journey they will be joined by a collection of other Runners, all of whom have something to prove and have a story of their own. Standing in their way are starving nomads, crumbling cities, hostile weather and a rogue state set to destroy the convoy. And there’s another problem: Cassady is close to losing his nerve.
<b><i>My Thoughts: </i></b>
The world building in By the Feet of Men is very interesting and very well described, especially the part about the Change and the Koalition. From the beginning, we get a very good idea of what kind of world we are living in now, from global warming, to the starving nomads, to how the Runners make a living. I think that was a very good introduction to the new normal that we are about to engage in.
I think perhaps due to the elaborate description, I found the beginning quite slow. The true adventure and road trip doesn’t start until halfway through the book. Once the adventure begins, though, many things happen in short spaces of time. The pacing is quite fast until the very end. The book contains brutal and graphic details, so it may contain a lot of trigger warnings and I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint hearted people.
I loved Cassady and Ghazi and really enjoyed their backstories.
The way how they made decisions based on their past experiences, which were sometimes very different. I love the constant battle they seem to have between what is right and wrong, when a decision has to be made quite fast to ensure their survival. Sometimes, their survival might mean leaving someone behind, and not both of them would agree that this is the right decision to be made. However, I think there is something much more difficult than making such a decision, and that’s living with the consequences.
Apart from the main characters, I had a very hard time remembering the other characters and their backstories. This made me annoyed a few times. I am very good at remembering side characters, and I usually prefer them to the main characters. However. this wasn’t the case for this book. And this is something that really bothers me.
I was quite intrigued about the ending.
I enjoyed it and I liked how it ended. My initial thoughts were that it was very realistic. It also had an ending that I haven’t seen too much explored in any post-apocalyptic fiction I’ve read or seen. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of explanation to some points. However, I think the main characters’ stories and experiences in the end of the book contributed to a balanced and emotional ending.
I definitely recommend By the Feet of Men to all fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. Something new and fresh, unexplored anywhere else and full of adventure and realistic brutality. I am sure you will enjoy it.
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
<img src="https://i0.wp.com/diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Book-Review-Banner-80.png?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1"/>;
By the Feet of Men by Grant Price is a very good post-apocalyptic novel, full of adventures and danger. I am glad I got the chance to read and review this book. Thank you to the author, Grant Price, for sending me a copy of his book in exchange for my honest review.
<b><i>Synopsis:</i></b>
The book is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the world’s population has been decimated by the Change, a chain reaction of events triggered by global warming. Governments have fallen and cities have crumbled. The productions have stopped. The Alps region, which contains the continent’s fresh water, has become a closed state with heavily fortified borders.
The ones that managed to survive cling on by trading through the Runners, truck drivers who deliver cargo and take a percentage. Two Runners, Cassady and Ghazi are called to deliver medical supplies to a research base deep in the Italian desert, where scientists claim to be building a machine that could reverse the effects of the Change.
On this journey they will be joined by a collection of other Runners, all of whom have something to prove and have a story of their own. Standing in their way are starving nomads, crumbling cities, hostile weather and a rogue state set to destroy the convoy. And there’s another problem: Cassady is close to losing his nerve.
<b><i>My Thoughts: </i></b>
The world building in By the Feet of Men is very interesting and very well described, especially the part about the Change and the Koalition. From the beginning, we get a very good idea of what kind of world we are living in now, from global warming, to the starving nomads, to how the Runners make a living. I think that was a very good introduction to the new normal that we are about to engage in.
I think perhaps due to the elaborate description, I found the beginning quite slow. The true adventure and road trip doesn’t start until halfway through the book. Once the adventure begins, though, many things happen in short spaces of time. The pacing is quite fast until the very end. The book contains brutal and graphic details, so it may contain a lot of trigger warnings and I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint hearted people.
I loved Cassady and Ghazi and really enjoyed their backstories.
The way how they made decisions based on their past experiences, which were sometimes very different. I love the constant battle they seem to have between what is right and wrong, when a decision has to be made quite fast to ensure their survival. Sometimes, their survival might mean leaving someone behind, and not both of them would agree that this is the right decision to be made. However, I think there is something much more difficult than making such a decision, and that’s living with the consequences.
Apart from the main characters, I had a very hard time remembering the other characters and their backstories. This made me annoyed a few times. I am very good at remembering side characters, and I usually prefer them to the main characters. However. this wasn’t the case for this book. And this is something that really bothers me.
I was quite intrigued about the ending.
I enjoyed it and I liked how it ended. My initial thoughts were that it was very realistic. It also had an ending that I haven’t seen too much explored in any post-apocalyptic fiction I’ve read or seen. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of explanation to some points. However, I think the main characters’ stories and experiences in the end of the book contributed to a balanced and emotional ending.
I definitely recommend By the Feet of Men to all fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. Something new and fresh, unexplored anywhere else and full of adventure and realistic brutality. I am sure you will enjoy it.