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mementomoriiv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.5
This book hurts.
It is beautiful and twisted, twisting. It moves across Earths, through glass globes, into animals and boys who yesrn to stay dead but awaken with new ways of being each day. It examines the damage left by humans who think only of their own uses.
It is helpful to look back and re-read as you move forward. There is no timeline.
This is a beautifully written, richly imagined, devastatingly human book.
It is beautiful and twisted, twisting. It moves across Earths, through glass globes, into animals and boys who yesrn to stay dead but awaken with new ways of being each day. It examines the damage left by humans who think only of their own uses.
It is helpful to look back and re-read as you move forward. There is no timeline.
This is a beautifully written, richly imagined, devastatingly human book.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Grief
sunn_bleach's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
This is a hugely acerbic, mobius strip-esque novel that weaves in parallel realities and explores the concept of archetypes in a post-apocalyptic wasteland following an ecological disaster. Saying that means nothing; Dead Astronauts is, like so much of VanderMeer's work, a book where the prose and format are immensely important to imparting the surreality of death and destruction. In this sense, it's like ecological ergodic literature - you travel throughout different perspectives of machines, mutants, creatures, and survivalists in which the organization of words on-page tells you more about their lens and experiences than the actual words on-page. Some reviews of this book lamented the difficulty in following the plot, but that's kind of the point - if you're interested in a speculative fiction take on early 20th century modernism and mid-20th century environmentalism (though that's putting it too reductively), then this is absolutely for you. Given VanderMeer's residency in Tallahassee, FL, it's hard for me to imagine he isn't a little bit inspired by fellow USA southerner William Faulkner.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror
Moderate: Death, Violence, and War
Minor: Gun violence and Sexual content
editrixemma's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
funcharge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence
irisirae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
2.0
"Moss had made him fail in a way that allowed him to live, that gave some comfort, that was not really a failure."
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
alexhaydon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Violence
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