Scan barcode
borteez's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
VanderMeer is so singular in his ability to contrive these bizarre, awful, inexplicable, and humanistically beautiful situations. This book is yet another tour de force, a glimpse into a world that isn't so unlike our own, but is. The way this story can pull at your heartstrings, the way it flows and moves and finishes off like the smoothness after the bitter taste of alcohol. It's really, really beautiful. Everything is so stark, and the moments of contemplation and family and beauty that humans must dig out of the wreckage are *so* priceless and unforgettable. The contrast of intense, stubborn, steadfast gentleness in response to unimaginable cruelty and twisted useless ruins is incredibly affecting.
Sometimes, though, I feel that tense moments are weighed down by introspection, and that Jeff could have stepped outside of the characters' dismal spiral of thoughts to keep the action going. I haven't felt that in any other Vandermeer novel, and so I have to say that while this is probably at the bottom of my list of Jeff's achievements, it's already an incredibly lofty list, and its place at the bottom does not prevent me from wholeheartedly recommending this to anyone.
Sometimes, though, I feel that tense moments are weighed down by introspection, and that Jeff could have stepped outside of the characters' dismal spiral of thoughts to keep the action going. I haven't felt that in any other Vandermeer novel, and so I have to say that while this is probably at the bottom of my list of Jeff's achievements, it's already an incredibly lofty list, and its place at the bottom does not prevent me from wholeheartedly recommending this to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
zsabella's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
misty_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
kuronekostea's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
An incredible narrative about a young woman and her struggles to survive such a unique, scary apocalyptic city. I absolutely loved the characters in this book.
Easily my favorite book of this year.
I enjoyed the progressive play through of Rachel, Wick and Borne as they all grew and developed as characters who inevitably came to their own conclusions about the world around them and their places in it. I also found the underlying mystery fascinating as well. Like many of VanderMeer's books there are many questions still left unanswered. I plan to read the others in this series and hope we hear more about the possible AMC TV Series based on this novel.
Easily my favorite book of this year.
I enjoyed the progressive play through of Rachel, Wick and Borne as they all grew and developed as characters who inevitably came to their own conclusions about the world around them and their places in it. I also found the underlying mystery fascinating as well. Like many of VanderMeer's books there are many questions still left unanswered. I plan to read the others in this series and hope we hear more about the possible AMC TV Series based on this novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Abandonment
crlpedigo's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
lost_keys's review
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
Vandermeer’s prose is so chewy and toothsome, and his characters are so human and strange.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Animal death and Torture
bookmaxxing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
woah. this book rules
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Cannibalism
TW: many many bugs and insect horrorsannenichols's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I think I really enjoyed this. At first, I wasn't sure I liked the voice (meaning the tone - I read this with my eyes, not audio). I think it calmed down a bit, or it grew on me. The start is very, very weird - stick with it. The relationship between Rachel and Borne was so beautiful - a stunning reflection on motherhood . Borne is a fascinating character.
The atmosphere was so tense; I stayed up so late reading it. The protagonistis in constant danger , which makes the book fast-paced and exciting.
The book requires quite the suspension of disbelief because the scifi isn't really explained or sensical. I usually prefer things to make sense, but accepting the world at face value was worth it for the story and the thoroughly rendered sense of place. The world is very well-woven if you accept the premise.
There were some good plot twists. The ending was somewhathappy, which I appreciated .
The dystopian features of how humanity destroyed itself were interesting as well.
The atmosphere was so tense; I stayed up so late reading it. The protagonist
The book requires quite the suspension of disbelief because the scifi isn't really explained or sensical. I usually prefer things to make sense, but accepting the world at face value was worth it for the story and the thoroughly rendered sense of place. The world is very well-woven if you accept the premise.
There were some good plot twists. The ending was somewhat
The dystopian features of how humanity destroyed itself were interesting as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
mementomoriiv's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence
mes0pelagic_fan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
I don't know if I enjoyed reading this book, but I think it's amazing and I want to make everyone in my life read it so I have people to share it with. It's so well done, and by turns sweet and hopeful and gruesome and disturbing. The real meat of the story is a mother's journey to reconcile the truth of the world with the haunting lie of memory, both in the context of her relationship with her freakish squid shapeshifting and unwillingly murderous child as he grows up and becomes his own person and also her violent toxicly apocalyptic home that she shares with her mind-altering-biotech/drug-dealing boyfriend who keeps things from her. The idea that life can really only mean something because it ends underpins the emotional crux of this story and contextualizes both the pain and joy of life, taken to wild extremes in this devastatingly brutal story.
I had a hunch things would end upbeing crushing but also hopeful and I was rewarded with such a plausible vision of Rachel and the city's future! Her in the renovated balcony cliffs with Wick and the children who could be what she wanted, more than Borne could be, but not any less loved literally made me crazy. She literally is breaking generational cycles!!!!! keeping the horror of her life from those kids and letting them think she hadn't suffered enough to become hardened when she suffered enough to become kind by realizing that life doesn't mean anything when you're just surviving, and that to be a person you have to do more than that. And Bourne's happy ending-- so much reduced but exactly what he wanted, to be back home in the Balcony Cliffs with Rachel and Wick, made me want to cry.
Annihilation may be the scariest movie I can remember seeing in my life, but this book takes that unforgettable freak bear and made me feel grateful to be alive.
Also, this author is obsessed with bears.
I had a hunch things would end up
Annihilation may be the scariest movie I can remember seeing in my life, but this book takes that unforgettable freak bear and made me feel grateful to be alive.
Also, this author is obsessed with bears.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence