Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer

16 reviews

bedtimesnack's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This might be the most coherent storytelling I've read by Jeff Vandermeer. It's also one of the most gruesome. Felt like a lot of gore, compared to his later work.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

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

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

coatpocketcreature's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Gore

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism and Suicide

abbymawhinney's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

yoursam's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

3.5

classic vandermeer but it's clear that it is one of his earlier works, the other books of his i've had the pleasure of reading so far really shine in comparison. that's not to say that i didn't enjoy veniss underground, but there's something to it that didn't click. or at least it didn't click as nicely in place as say, the southern reach trilogy or dead astronauts have for me.

personally, i loved the second part the most and wished we had gotten more time with nicola. vandermeer is probably the only author i can think of that doesn't make me cringe at the use of second person pov, no hate to those that prefer it, i know it's subjective. but something about how he uses it, like he knows it has its place and time in a story, just makes it work so well.

the third part had me often thinking about eurydice and orpheus, though it's not a similar story being told here at all; there were just moments throughout that felt almost like it could have been that story.

in general, i just think the story would have been much stronger if it had stayed on the siblings and their connection. but again, that might be personal preference. the ending was good, it really was, and i think it works with the story for it to be more of a whimper than a bang. or maybe i'm just used to vandermeer's non-ending endings lmao

---

Content Warnings

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

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

miriamrose's review against another edition

i really enjoyed the concept of this initially but there was so much body horror and gore and animal cruelty and it was only getting worse the more the book went on. was making me so depressed and i couldn’t hack it anymore. so imaginative though i want to try more of his books this one just wasn’t for me 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Gore