Helpful Score: 1
I LOVE books with talking animals! This is a clever mashup of talking animals and a post apocalyptic zombie tale. A crow called S.T. (for S*** Turd) narrates most of the chapters, though a few others are told in the voices of a variety of animals around the world. This book has humor, adventure and heart. Highly recommended, especially for those burnt out on reading so much during the pandemic and looking for something different.
I honestly don't know what to say about this Inventive to be sure. Also overwhelming, exhausting and unrelenting all in both positive and negative meanings. Hilarious, like side-splitting funny? Not for me. S.T. is witty and charming, not to mention loquacious, and his descriptions of the action can be humorous. But basically this book is one long battle with S.T. and Dennis desperately trying to stay alive, and S.T. trying to figure out what's going on and how he can stop it. (Spoiler: he can't). It's emotionally exhausting. And at the same time, it's slow. There are so many adjectives and adverbs packed into each sentence that it makes for great imagery but not so much advancing the story. The message did resonate with me. Original, inventive, clever, sad, humorous - all that - memorable, and sort of uplifting at the end. But I put this down so many times to go do something else. I won't read the next, this was just too much of a much for me.
Melissa B. (dragoneyes) -
Oh, how I loved this book. From the very beginning it had me giggling. I was swept up with S.T.'s, the crow, narration of the story. The story was fun, lovable and entertaining. As much as it was amusing, it still is a story of the apocalypse so there are times when it was sad, brutal and cruel. The sheer magnitude of all of the emotional elements made this a fantastic story that I will carry with me for a long time.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
This book is part delightful romp through a zombie apocalypse and part horrifying journey through a post apocalyptic world. S.T. (crow) and Dennis (bloodhound) make a funny, loyal pair (or small murder from S.T.'s point of view). And there are some hilarious lines in this book! However, as we went along there were some brutal, upsetting moments (Cinnamon! Ugh!). So I am torn and don't recommend for the faint of heart.
Really profane, really funny, and really holding a powerful message this book is incredibly well done and not at all recommended to readers with delicate sensibilities. I liked how ST was able to change his deeply held beliefs as the story progressed and how the animals moved from isolation to community. It's also a really fun imaginative exercise in what would happen in a world without humans.
