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donna backshall's Reviews > Zone One
Zone One
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donna backshall's review
bookshelves: least-favorite-narration, terrible-editing, unimpressive-writing, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, regret-i-read-it, on-overdrive-wake, nein-nein-nein, mental-illness, aborted-efforts, 101-in-2017, military, fiction, reviewed-amazon
Mar 17, 2017
bookshelves: least-favorite-narration, terrible-editing, unimpressive-writing, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, regret-i-read-it, on-overdrive-wake, nein-nein-nein, mental-illness, aborted-efforts, 101-in-2017, military, fiction, reviewed-amazon
Unbearable. That's all I can say. I bailed about one-quarter of the way in. I am so done, I don't want to bother reviewing, but I need to dig my head out of the word salad that was this book and warn fellow readers.
Are there commandments for novel writing? If there are, I want to submit these for consideration:
- Lists do not constitute atmosphere.
- Noting a man's actions does not constitute character development.
- Words need to have purpose, not just look fancy on paper.
We all have access to a dictionary and a thesaurus. The trademark of a talented fiction writer is the ability to use the right words at the right time, and to relate a story tightly, concisely, and clearly so it is compelling, immersive and informative.
I saw no evidence of anything like this in Zone One. It was such a mess of lists upon lists of things past, and inventories of symptoms present, while we enter a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested Manhattan through the experiences of a guy named Mark Spitz. (Yes, I'm serious)
It was, in a word, dreadful.
As well, in the Overdrive audio version, the narrator read like he was breathless, eager and upbeat, made to sit on the edge of his seat in anticipation of the rom-com fun just waiting to hit him. But this attitude was entirely inappropriate for the morose military operations as they unfolded. The smiling Chandler Bing tone of his narration made the beleaguered story even more unapproachable.
Are there commandments for novel writing? If there are, I want to submit these for consideration:
- Lists do not constitute atmosphere.
- Noting a man's actions does not constitute character development.
- Words need to have purpose, not just look fancy on paper.
We all have access to a dictionary and a thesaurus. The trademark of a talented fiction writer is the ability to use the right words at the right time, and to relate a story tightly, concisely, and clearly so it is compelling, immersive and informative.
I saw no evidence of anything like this in Zone One. It was such a mess of lists upon lists of things past, and inventories of symptoms present, while we enter a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested Manhattan through the experiences of a guy named Mark Spitz. (Yes, I'm serious)
It was, in a word, dreadful.
As well, in the Overdrive audio version, the narrator read like he was breathless, eager and upbeat, made to sit on the edge of his seat in anticipation of the rom-com fun just waiting to hit him. But this attitude was entirely inappropriate for the morose military operations as they unfolded. The smiling Chandler Bing tone of his narration made the beleaguered story even more unapproachable.
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Reading Progress
March 14, 2017
–
Started Reading
March 17, 2017
– Shelved
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
least-favorite-narration
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
terrible-editing
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
unimpressive-writing
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
regret-i-read-it
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
on-overdrive-wake
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
nein-nein-nein
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
mental-illness
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
aborted-efforts
March 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
101-in-2017
March 17, 2017
–
Finished Reading
March 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
military
March 9, 2019
– Shelved as:
fiction
July 2, 2023
– Shelved as:
reviewed-amazon
Comments Showing 1-21 of 21 (21 new)
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Jill
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Jun 10, 2019 08:42AM
Great honest review, Donna. Sounds terrible.
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Donna, curious why two stars then? Sounds like a one star to me.
Thom wrote: "Donna, curious why two stars then? Sounds like a one star to me."Good catch, Thom! I meant for it to be a one-star review. Methinks I fat-fingered it. Corrected now.
I'm thinking I'm going to drop it from my TBR after this!
Tony wrote: "I'm thinking I'm going to drop it from my TBR after this!" You never know, Tony! If you already own it, it might be worth taking a look. I can see that a lot of people did like it, but I am definitely not one of them.
Donna wrote: "Tony wrote... ...it's been on my TBR forever, and I don't think I'm going to miss it!
Evidently a lot of people agree with you. It has a Goodreads rating of 3.26. As opposed to The Underground Railroad, which has a 4.02.
Michael wrote: "Thanks for saving the rest of us." Perhaps you'll do the same for me some day, Michael!
Mark Spitz? OMG..your review gave me such a chuckle. Thanks for that.
You nailed it. It was so horrible I had to write a warning review
I’m about a quarter way through and totally agree with everything you wrote so far. Does it get better? Is it worth pushing through? Or do I cut the cord now?
Steve wrote: "I’m about a quarter way through and totally agree with everything you wrote so far. Does it get better? Is it worth pushing through? Or do I cut the cord now?" I honestly can't say, because I bailed early. I hate not finishing a book, but this one was killing my will to live. If you're dreading coming back to it each time, I say go crack open something you're sure to like and leave this one in your rear view.
I’m 12 pages in and I cannot seem to find the momentum to read this book to save my life. The concept of the story is great but its executed so poorly to where I lost interest. This review highlights exactly what I felt reading just 12 pages.
I went from page 90 to 300 (different edition) and I felt I wasn't missing anything at all, that there was nothing of importance on those 210 pages I skipped.
Yves wrote: "I went from page 90 to 300 (different edition) and I felt I wasn't missing anything at all, that there was nothing of importance on those 210 pages I skipped."At least you kept going, so bravo on the effort. Was there anything redemptive later on? I never came back to find out.
😂Absolutely love your list of dont’s for authors. I will avoid this one for sure.
Fantastic review, Donna. I have a book by this author coming up in a few weeks, non-fiction. I have a pretty good idea what happened with this book. I think Whitehead wrote an acclaimed novel and was probably under deadline to finish another, so he wrote a description of a great novel without bothering to do the arduous, time consuming work of writing the rest. If he couldn’t interest you in a science fiction based in Buffalo, he didn't try.
Joe wrote: "Fantastic review, Donna. I have a book by this author coming up in a few weeks, non-fiction. I have a pretty good idea what happened with this novel. I think Whitehead wrote ..." This is my only experience with this author, and I think I'm going to keep it that way. The writing felt so incredibly off, which could very likely be explained by the pressure to hit another home run. We've all seen it happen : *cough cough* Artemis, we're looking at you.
donna wrote: At least you kept going, so bravo on the effort. Was there anything redemptive later on? I never came back to find out."I had to know if it became better but no, it didn't.
*Spoiler*
Everyone gets infected and Mark runs, guns blazing, into the crowd of zombies.
So not even a bit original.
Don't worry, you didn't miss a thing.
this review came the closest to capturing my thoughts on the novel!
