Reviews

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer

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doctor_km's review against another edition

5.0

You either going to love this book or you going to hate it. For me I absolutely loved it, but I have pretty much loved everything that VanderMeer has written.

Is this book deeply complicated and philosophical? Yes it absolutely is. Is it the kind of book you can just breeze through without reading every single word and thinking about their context? No it is absolutely not. But if you like to be challenged by what you read and your mind is open to new ideas and new philosophy and new ways of thinking about words and story and this might be the book for you.

It may be the hardest book I've ever read, but also one of the most fulfilling.

doormatt's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Jeff Vandermeer continues to be very hit or miss, this time within one book. He's always got great ideas but sometimes the writing just doesn't come across correctly. That said, the fourth short story "can't remember" is one of the best (kinda) time loop shorts I've read.

claraeileen99's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

chelseamguy's review against another edition

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4.0

That was really weird and I really liked it. (Except maybe the amount of violent imagery.)

adelopycruz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

4.5

leakyeyelugo's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I thought i’d like this book, as i’m a huge fan of Vandermeer’s other works (SR Trilogy, Borne), but this was just a chore.

The story felt hard-to-follow with not much payoff in the end. Maybe its ideas were too complex for my simpleton brain, but i just simply was not a fan. It was well-written and had some ideas i did like. Others…not so much.