Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

6 reviews

toastrats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Chronic illness

scytheria's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness and Death of parent

crowcore's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship

troisha's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gore, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

fireswatch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It is as perplexing as it is enthralling, from beginning to end. Jeff VanderMeer does an incredible job of painting an overwhelmingly bleak setting that leaves you wondering if there will ever be even the possibility of a glimmer of hope on the horizon. It is difficult to predict where the story will go from one chapter to the next, but you can be sure that it will be both mind-boggling and exhilarating. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the ending was absolutely outstanding!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content

grvhppr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

First off, I loved this piece. It’s my first VanderMeer work, and it couldn’t have been a better choice. 

Overall, the pace of the book felt pleasantly slow—especially during the early years with Borne. It gave the sense that we lived the childhood years of Borne alongside Rachel. That by the time

Borne must leave home the story could skip some time and the reader could feel the weariness of living the life of a scavenger on the run. The cute Borne days were long gone by this point.

 

This book questions what it means to be a person. We the reader must determine if this means to be human, to be ethical, to be flawed, to be alive, etc. The question is vast and wraps the story like a blanket.

Can Borne still be a person if he’s a murderer? Can Rachel?

On the surface the tech was fun.

Memory beetles, alcohol minnows, fire-breathing venomous bears, cloaking garb, and more. Having their survival based around scavenging biotechnology added a wonderful sci-fi element to the story.

 

Thinking back, this story feels sadder than how I felt during the listen. The bond between the trio is unique and how it unfolds while could predicted with some thought doesn’t take away from the sense of loss. Not necessarily in lives but in just… life. Borne, the book, is full of destruction—ceaseless. The characters are all made of strong stuff to be able to function in a world such as ‘The City’. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts