Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

7 reviews

emilywemily6's review

challenging mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I was really hoping for more answers in this book, but I understand that the author’s whole premise is that the source of Area X is unknowable by our finite human minds. I liked getting multiple viewpoints to add a little bit more clarity, but I wish a few more things wrapped up by the end with the storylines converging. It felt unsatisfying. I think I would get more out of reading this series again and again, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to want to reread it to get a few more crumbs of insight. Saul’s scene at the bar was so fascinating and intriguing and I really thought his storyline in particular would have more of a climax. Overall, it was a weird and interesting time, with so much nuance that who even knows what the truth is? Not my kind of reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol and Cancer

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Body horror, Violence, Animal death, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Homophobia and Suicide

gracecrandall's review

dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Gore, War, Violence, and Gaslighting

madarauchiha's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Gore, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death of parent, Vomit, and Drug use

tinnuben's review

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Vomit

cheye13's review

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My primary fear about a third book was that it would provide too many answers. I thought Annihilation was perfect in its absurdity, and that Authority was more boring than watching paint dry. I was concerned that Acceptance would simply pick up where Authority had stopped. But then, when I saw the director's point of view, I was more concerned about learning information she had previously withheld. And then, when I saw that we also got the Lighthouse Keeper's point of view, I was certain Acceptance would ruin the repore that I felt Annihilation had built.

My fears were baseless.

Acceptance offers yet more questions, and I loved it. I love the characters introduced and developed, I loved the nonlinear narrative, I even loved the writing conventions like narrative perspective and diction. I found focusing difficult (due to my environment) but I am looking forward to rereading this series and going to town with annotations.

Above all else, I love how this book (and the larger series) addresses language/linguistics/communication as a concept rather than a system. It's rare to find a written media that addresses the imperfection of language outside of straightforward theory or philosophy texts. All that simply to say that this series is the closest I've felt to being... understood? with regards to my personal philosophy regarding alien life. And! With just a bit of extrapolation, the story could very easily be simply about the human condition without turning outward at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Terminal illness, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Death

Warnings are mostly on par with the previous two books. All visual horror, such as body horror or gore, though varying in detail, is described with a sence of distance or dissociation due to the nature of the characters' perspectives. Animal corpses, usually sea life, are mentioned in passing. A character is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

troisha's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit