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clareoz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
As usual Jeff Vandermeer provides many eerie and odd ideas over the course of the novel. And as usual he mentions tide pools at least once a I found myself wishing Nicola and Nicolas’s sections were longer by the end - Shadrach somehow felt less real than the others - though his story was more interesting. Idk I’ll have to think on it more.
cato_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Great world building and character development. Character relationships really drive the plot of the story forward so more focused on how the protagonist is navigating the world than on the world itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
violet_j_rose's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
lucilla_17's review against another edition
1.0
I think I would have loved this when I was 20. It was well written, and the plot/characters were fine, I just did not enjoy the style.
zshadow126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
3.75
kateapatton's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
noreiller's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
stellarleon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
fableborealis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
dukegregory's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Kind of an obvious thing to say for debuts, but this feels like a true Genesis for VanderMeer's body of work. But also beyond Genesis. It is sort of a Bible of his themes:
Hybridity, man vs. nature, symbiosis, bioengineering, the uncanny, underground tunnels/architecture, the fear of the unknown, our culpability in our own demise, twins, doppelgangers, body alteration/mutilation/mutation, art in the face of cultural demise, the City as character and/or living being, love, perception, origins, and insanity.
Some of the craziest descriptions I've ever read, which seems par for the course with VanderMeer at this point. Totally imaginative and thrilling. Not as thematically deep as Ambergris or Southern Reach, but it's a younger person's novel with a sense that genre can be both enjoyed for what it is and distorted beyond recognition.
A beautiful testament to the New Weird's heyday.
Kind of an obvious thing to say for debuts, but this feels like a true Genesis for VanderMeer's body of work. But also beyond Genesis. It is sort of a Bible of his themes:
Hybridity, man vs. nature, symbiosis, bioengineering, the uncanny, underground tunnels/architecture, the fear of the unknown, our culpability in our own demise, twins, doppelgangers, body alteration/mutilation/mutation, art in the face of cultural demise, the City as character and/or living being, love, perception, origins, and insanity.
Some of the craziest descriptions I've ever read, which seems par for the course with VanderMeer at this point. Totally imaginative and thrilling. Not as thematically deep as Ambergris or Southern Reach, but it's a younger person's novel with a sense that genre can be both enjoyed for what it is and distorted beyond recognition.
A beautiful testament to the New Weird's heyday.