Reviews

Ambergris: City of Saints and Madmen; Shriek: An Afterword; Finch by Jeff VanderMeer

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mngwa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.5

trakiul's review

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4.5

for me, the 3 of these taken together are an incredible feat of story telling. ive always been appreciative of Vandermeer's ability to change his prose to match the tone of the story, and here he does that to great effect imo. and the way he weaves them all together at the end, including things i didn't really expect to be brought up again.

Shriek is hard to get through, i actually stopped in the middle and came back a year or two later and finished the last half and Finch, which i love. i think Shriek is intentionally a difficult read, because it's difficult for Janice to tell the story. you experience a little bit of that with her.

Finch is quite graphic at the end, but i think it was worth it. i really enjoyed the characters and rising action in it, and of course the descriptions are great. i liked that although Finch did take action and participate directly, he was also often just watching shit happen without much control. he was a good pov character i think.

alainagraff's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I love the themes that Vandermeer explores in his books. This one felt a little clunkier than area X, but I still couldn’t put it down. Worth the read if you enjoyed his other works

eveningreverie's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

5.0

One of the most fully realized fantasy worlds I have been transported to. I loved the different tones of each story, especially wrapping up every thread followed over the course of centuries in the final story.

Unexpected in so many ways. Dark, expansive, absolutely remarkable.

linneasofia's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? N/A

5.0

darienjade's review

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Needs to be physically read not audiobook

nigellicus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

All three volumes, but not, sadly, the appendices to City Of Saints And Madman. Bronson Pinchot reading the Hisotircal Guide is an absolute blast, especially as the footnotes head into triple figures. Forgot how much Shriek was almost a dialogue between Duncan and Janice, nice effect. Finch has a lot of torture in it, making it a bit grueling at times.