Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - I Who Have Never Known Men

Gorgeous! While meditative, it manages to be a real page turner. There’s so much to examine here, and it really feels like a book that should be read multiple times. The central mystery is incredibly intriguing. There’s no fat in the prose. Every word feels perfectly chosen. It’s very heavy, so even though there are many moments of beauty, I wouldn’t suggest reading if you’re not mentally in a good space.

Content Warnings

siraels's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't think a book has ever made me feel so isolated, gloomy and distressed but it also made me feel so many things that I could not rate it in any other way than five stars.

Content Warnings

crybabybea's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was like an episode of The Twilight Zone. You're dropped into a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting with no explanation. The narrator is unreliable due to her complete ignorance, having grown up pretty much entirely in an underground bunker with no human contact except for her 39 fellow prisoners, under guard 24/7. As the events progress, the reader gets more questions than answers, and just like The Twilight Zone, the ending leaves you with nothing but your own thoughts. Don't come into this book expecting crazy action or deep characterization.

It's a deceptively simple story with equally deceptively simple writing. This is the kind of book you can read over and over again and you will discover something new depending on where you are in your life at the time of reading. You can endlessly theorize about what might have happened or what could have gone differently.

For me, I really liked the exploration of loneliness and isolation. Our main character is different from her cellmates because she has absolutely no memory of the outside world or a life before the bunker. She often remarks that she doesn't even feel human because her brain works so differently from the others. I really connected with this story because of it and it made me reflect and think deeply. I think anyone who has experienced isolation or loneliness of any kind would feel similarly.

I also just really liked the tone of this book. It was eerie, disquieting, uncomfortable. The author feeds us threads of hope that turn into a disconcerting uneasiness by the end of the story. It felt lonely and empty in a really immersive way. As well, I liked how it differed from typical post-apocalyptic media. There are dark moments, but the author doesn't resort to brutality and shock factor to try and question humanity. She shows glimmers of hope and light, and shows how people come together and care for each other and give each other what they can when all other hope is gone. She makes you question what makes humanity, not what breaks it.

Just a really great example of what speculative fiction can be and how it can make a reader think and feel.

Content Warnings

phoevincent's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

larafrances's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...