Ratings139
Average rating3.5
This was pretty good! I almost didn't read it. It's sort of a coming-of-age story, but it doesn't have a romance, and I expected it to (and wasn't looking forward to it). Instead there's a gentle and sad friendship plot.
It's about accepting an imminent apocalypse, but it's calm and melancholy, not dark and violent. No violence at all, in fact.
Good
This one was good. Loved that it was about flowers, my obsession
The book was pretty good. It was nice and short and pretty quick to read, as long as you don't procrastinate reading it like I did. It felt kind of sad and depressing, especially near the end, but I still liked it. - August 3, 2023
This is part of the Amazon Original ‘Forward Collection' curated by Blake Crouch. This is my first experience with the author, and I enjoyed it. These are available through prime for free on kindle or audible!
Two weeks before an asteroid destroys all of earth, a group of scientists are still dealing with the small stuff. And by that I mean seeds and plants. Most of earth is already evacuated, but this group is taxed with cataloguing samples for humanity's long journey to somewhere new. Somewhere in the growing panic, Samantha finds a new species, and with that, a new lease on hope.
This was a well done short about what it means to be human, and what ties us to our humanity. In the event that we'd need to leave earth, would you be able to willingly give up your home?
Personally a 4/5*. Narration from Evan Rachel Wood was great!
Heel ingetogen, introspectisch verhaal met een melancholische bijklank, over wat echt belangrijk is.
“Well, you can't love everything equally,” she said. “You just can't—and if you did, then it's the same as loving nothing at all. So you have to hold just a few things dear, because that's what love is. Particular. Specific.”
Not a new plot in terms of a world is going to end soon and so human race is trying to populate a new planet storyline. I thought it was a bit of a slow and sad read, a story of how Samantha, one of the last people on earth, is cataloging plant samples to take on the Ark before a life-ending asteroid, Finis, hits earth to follow the rest of mankind who has already taken to spaceships to another planet.
The story almost turns into a story of nostalgia for Samantha as she reminisces upon her Mom and talking to Hagen, the memories of orchids to both of them and really just sad nostalgia for what beauty and how special earth really is and what it has, as well as thinking about how much more there is left to discover, as we see with Samantha discovering a new flower in such a short time before the end of the earth.
Thoughts:
What is it like when you live your whole life knowing that the end of the world is coming?
What is it like to be the last people on earth, all without family members, and all (but not as defining of a detail) doing the same work and with similar degrees.
Part of Amazon's Forward Collection:
-Randomize by Andy Weir ★★★☆☆
“She wished she could have told him that life was already full of dread, no matter who you were. That there was nothing you could have that you couldn't one day lose.”
One of the stories from Blake Crouch's “Forward” collection. We follow Samantha, a horticulturist and scientist, living in one of the remaining Arks on Earth: Ark Flora. Most of the Arks have already left the planet carrying all survivors to a new home. Her job is to catalogue plants before an incoming asteroid, Finis, brings the apocalypse and destroys all life as we know it.
It was okay. Too slow and emotional for my taste.
My ranking of this Collection of Short Stories from favorite to least favorite:
1) BOOK 2: Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
2) BOOK 4: You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
3) BOOK 3: Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
4) BOOK 5: The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
5) BOOK 6: Randomize by Andy Weir
6) BOOK 1: Ark by Veronica Roth
Personally I found this story to be quite boring. It was beautifully written and getting to hear about the way the world ends and the culture around that was interesting but mostly nothing happens in this story aside from cataloging flowers and that's just not an interesting story to me.
I couldn't decide on the rating for this one. I'd say, 3.5 rounded up to 4?I haven't read anything from the Divergent series (although I've seen people compare Ark with it), so or anything else from Veronica Roth before; this is my first book by this author. We follow a group of scientists collecting plant samples for a future colony for humanity, as Earth is soon to be destroyed by a meteor. As cliche as it sounds, Roth did a wonderful job with the atmosphere and character building, especially considering how short the story is. We get to know the protagonist well, learn her past and understand her motivations. The prose is beautiful and ridden with parallels symbolism. Some of the symbolism, unfortunately, flew over my head, and some was a bit over the top, yet for the most part - I do appreciate it in this book.The reason I wasn't sure about my rating of the story is because it's a bit too depressive for me. I don't want to discuss this point too much to avoid spoilers, so I'll be very general. The story is supposed to be melancholy - that's the idea. But there are some elements that I find difficult to deal with for purely personal reasons. I don't think they make the story worse; in fact, under different circumstances, I'd say they make it even more poetic, which is why other readers might interact differently with the themes of grief and depression in Ark.My reviews for the other Forward stories: Emergency Skin by [a: N.K. Jemisin 2917917 N.K. Jemisin https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg] ★★★★★Summer Frost by [a: Blake Crouch 442240 Blake Crouch https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1479398727p2/442240.jpg] ★★★★★You Have Arrived at Your Destination by [a: Amor Towles 4536964 Amor Towles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1472937967p2/4536964.jpg] ★★★★☆The Last Conversation by [a: Paul Tremblay 648612 Paul Tremblay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415058580p2/648612.jpg] ★★★☆☆Randomize by [a: Andy Weir 6540057 Andy Weir https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1382592903p2/6540057.jpg] ★★★☆☆