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A review by yoursam
Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer
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
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