Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer

8 reviews

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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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

destryhawk's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

More than anything, it made me very intrigued to read more of his work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

savshelfinger's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Jeff writing just as I like him - rough around the edges and a complete trip

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism and Suicide

scytheria's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

laurareads87's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Veniss Underground is a classic in what is now known as New Weird, and this 20th anniversary edition includes additional stories set in the same world. VanderMeer describes it as “an unabashedly decadent, phantasmagorical novel,” and it includes themes — such as the implications of biotechnology — that also appear elsewhere in his work. Blending three character POVs and first, second, and third person, it is an ambitious book that mixes the illusory and the concrete in ways that blur the boundaries between them. It is almost entirely setting-driven: the plot is quite simple and straightforward and the character development somewhat sparse, but the descriptions of the scenes are impactful, evocative, and deeply disturbing. It is a book that gets under one’s skin and refuses to leave. This is an early work from VanderMeer — he notes in a brief essay here that he was still learning his craft at the time the initial ideas for this novel came to him — and is not as strong as some of his later work. This is decidedly not a book for everyone, but it is one I’d recommend to those into New Weird; it definitely has the beginnings of the style that can be recognized in his later work such as the Area X trilogy. I appreciated the additional stories for the most part, and the inclusion of Vandermeer’s thoughts on these works.

Content warnings: Graphic body horror throughout — this book is not for the squeamish. Violence, murder, body horror, gore, blood, vomit, suicide, death, torture, animal cruelty, animal death, medical content, medical trauma

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing an ARC in exchange for this review.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

sunnybopeep's review against another edition

5.0

An infernal masterpiece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse

aileend's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Suicide