Impossible to stop listening

This book gripped me so much so that I finished it in one sitting!
Excellent book, fantastic characters and narration. By far the best book I’ve read / listened to so far this year, likely to be my favourite of 2021

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Worth a read

Yea it’s alright. Feels a bit like it’s capitalising a bit soon on the pandemic. There are some bits in the plot that clearly mirror the real life experiences people have been describing over media outlets. If you can overlook that it’s a reasonable enough plot.

Performance wise everyone was good APART from the fact that Amanda the main Dr has about 12 different Scottish accents. This is not to mean she is unable to do a Scottish accent but that her voice tone and accent change in different chapters so much that it is confusing as you think it’s a different character. I think that is what a lot of people are referring to when saying the different voices are confusing.

It’s okay. Probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless they had a specific interest in the genre as it’s not going to make my favourites list.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Interesting

Can't believe this was written before COVID, I'm a bit suspicious about that? Good story & made some interesting points. Toby's accent changed from Scouse to Yorkshire for some reason?

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Beautiful, thoughtful, thought provoking.

Beautiful, thoughtful, thought provoking.

Loved:
💜The intricacy of this novel is staggering, imagining the impact of men’s disappearance from society down to the last electrician.
🎧Excellent production. Having a book read by eleven separate voices felt decadent in the best possible way and made it much easier to differentiate between the many characters.
💛Small moments made a big impact. A memorable one for me involved a female character scaring off an aggressive male, a scenario that turned the usual post-apocalyptic dynamic on its head.
💚In what I can only describe as sorcery, I came away from a book about a devastating plague feeling uplifted.

Could have Loved More:

I wouldn’t change a thing,

Shall I compare thee to:

A World War Z style telling of a Children of Men style disaster with the conscience of A Handmaid’s Tale. I went too far, didn't I…

<b>Other thoughts: </b>

In an extra tidbit, the accuracy of this book in describing life under a pandemic is all the more impressive given that Christina Sweeney-Baird finished it in 2019.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Scary and relevant post covid

Really enjoyed it and the different voices and stories, I listened to it really quickly and wish it was longer! It's the kind of book that stays with you, I've been thinking about it ever since.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

mixed

loved the first half of the story, found it thought provoking, but it fell away after that and didn't go anywhere. some characters became annoying.
some questionable narration too.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Best book written after pandemic

I wouldn’t have read this book if I had read into the actually story. Instead I heard about it from a book club and thought it would be interesting seeing the world from an all women’s perspective. I was not prepared therefore for what came in the first chapters of the book. This book took me on a journey, a journey not unlike my own during the last 18 months or so. I cried, laughed and ached along with the characters. Great writing, great characters but a little too close for home. However I was engrossed and couldn’t put it down. Outstanding!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Interesting read in current climate

Enjoyed reading a fictional version of life on recent times. There was a lot of similarity, but also a different outcomes. Quite scary to read what might have been.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A great idea let down by mediocre execution

My main problem with the story is that there are far too many characters and threads, many of which are left incomplete.

Too much of the book is devoted to irrelevant intricacies that could be mentioned in passing by a main character, without the need to create a new one.

Most of the narrators do a good job, but a couple attempt regional accents that are so bad as to be distracting from the story; and there are a few mispronounciations and strange pauses.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

BRILLIANT

What a book for our times. Couldn't put it down. Best listen in a while

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!