This, for me, was an uncomfortable read. I get the fact that many people have said this is a witty book, it is in parts. But there is a lot of darkness in it, and some pretty graphic details. If we weren’t currently living through a pandemic I think I would have enjoyed reading this book.
The story is set in late 2023/early 2024. A new virus named 6DM (six days maximum) has wiped out the human race. It is the end of the world. Yet there is one woman still alive. Despite coming into contact with people who have 6DM, including her own husband, this woman survives.
The book is written in the style of a diary that is being kept by this woman – unnamed – and it discusses her life before 6DM hit, how the new and deadly virus ravaged her life and loved ones and how she survives. She comes across as quite self-centred and I think the point is to show the reader how she has had to adjust from selfish to self-reliant.
For me, there was too much graphic content in terms of animal suffering. The demise of the humans she knows and encounters is almost comical in some parts, but the description of animals suffering and dying as a result of the deadly virus really upset me.
The end was quite disappointing. We don’t get to find out what happens to her. We do find out that she wasn’t the only survivor – there are a couple of clues in the book that suggest this – but we don’t get to know what happens to her.
This is not the kind of book I would normally read, much less during a real-life pandemic! It is well written, and yes, there are some witty moments in the book. Like other people have already discussed elsewhere, the woman isn’t that likeable, but that’s probably the point. I would have liked to know why she seemed to be immune to this virus too.
Overall rating 7/10 3 stars ***
Life Through My Lens. 
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