Reviews

I already really liked Vandermeer, but this book took him up a few notches in my favorite authors. First of all, this book is FUCKING INSANE. And not like, blow your mind insane, but more like a 300 page long psychotic rambling of a Greenpeace member who took way too much acid, mixed in with an old man on his death bed sporadically shouting out past regrets in non-cohesive stream-of-consciousness. I can’t stress enough how little sense most of this book makes, but that’s why it works so well. The theme is easy to figure out, the planet is doomed (mostly the animals and the trees, humans are meh), and from there you just have to guess the meaning behind a lot of the insane imagery that Vandermeer senselessly throws at you. It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but it’s actually pieces from three or four different puzzles so you have to kind of just do what you can with what you have. I just adore this type of book, and it reminds me why I love to read so much. It’s obviously not going to be for everyone (or most people, really) but if you are at all interested, give it a shot and don’t be intimidated. Just accept that you are going to spend most of the novel completely confused, and that’s okay, just enjoy the ride.

alex_wordweaver's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

nerdyrev's review against another edition

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4.0

I am not sure what I thought about this book. I loved Borne and the world created in it, so another book in that world was most welcomed. This though is not told in a straight narrative, nor is it linear, and it is told in a dreamlike way. It is pretty experimental. I didn’t love it, nor did I hate it. It was similar to a Bourroughs book.