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emilynhansen's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cassholland's review against another edition
4.0
Am I a person?
I'm not entirely sure what I just read. But in the best way.
This book opens with absolutely no explanation of what has happened to the world, just drops right in on Rachel, a scavenger, and her life in an unnamed city with her partner, Wick. The action of the story begins when Rachel finds a piece of biotech, brings it home, names it Borne.
From there this book goes in so many weird, fantastical, complicated directions. VanderMeer's prose is a little indecipherable at times (maybe why this book took me almost six weeks to read) but so beautiful, so melancholy, and so devastating. I wish I understood the world more, I wish some of the gaps were filled in, but at the same time I don't--I think that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
At the heart of this story is not so much the destroyed scifi world but the relationships between the three main characters. They were so compelling and intense and complicated and honestly outshone the plot, again in the best way possible. There's so much to discuss here, so much about love and family and humanity and survival and memory, but I know that I would not do it justice. Go read this book, and then go stare into space for an hour marveling at the nature of personhood like I did.
I received this book from the publisher as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
I'm not entirely sure what I just read. But in the best way.
This book opens with absolutely no explanation of what has happened to the world, just drops right in on Rachel, a scavenger, and her life in an unnamed city with her partner, Wick. The action of the story begins when Rachel finds a piece of biotech, brings it home, names it Borne.
From there this book goes in so many weird, fantastical, complicated directions. VanderMeer's prose is a little indecipherable at times (maybe why this book took me almost six weeks to read) but so beautiful, so melancholy, and so devastating. I wish I understood the world more, I wish some of the gaps were filled in, but at the same time I don't--I think that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
At the heart of this story is not so much the destroyed scifi world but the relationships between the three main characters. They were so compelling and intense and complicated and honestly outshone the plot, again in the best way possible. There's so much to discuss here, so much about love and family and humanity and survival and memory, but I know that I would not do it justice. Go read this book, and then go stare into space for an hour marveling at the nature of personhood like I did.
I received this book from the publisher as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
fluffygengar's review against another edition
1.0
my head hurts and my imagination is strained after trying to figure out this book
comadivine11's review
3.0
If I were to briefly review this book in the style of VanderMeer's, it would go something like this: I read this book, or I did not read this book, or this book read me. This book has everything you could want in a book and everything you could not want in a book. This book deserves all the stars, or none of the stars.
Overall, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed this book more than the Southern Reach Trilogy. This book at least contained some resolution at the end and a mostly-coherent plot line. There were some anachronisms and events that didn't make internal sense and while I'm not a full VanderMeer acolyte, I also don't plain hate his style (like I hated House of Leaves by Danielewski). I think mostly I'm just not a big fan of the so-called "New Weird" genre.
Overall, I'm pretty sure I enjoyed this book more than the Southern Reach Trilogy. This book at least contained some resolution at the end and a mostly-coherent plot line. There were some anachronisms and events that didn't make internal sense and while I'm not a full VanderMeer acolyte, I also don't plain hate his style (like I hated House of Leaves by Danielewski). I think mostly I'm just not a big fan of the so-called "New Weird" genre.
quartzmaya's review against another edition
2.0
"Happiness never made anyone less stupid."
A post apocalypic world, a scavenger travelling through it with her amorphous squid-like monster sidekick.... I liked the description of this book it sounded like it would be right up my alley, but found it very confusing and difficult to follow along with the plot and struggled through the slow pacing. I ended up having to kind of skim through it and find scenes that I enjoyed and then skim again once my interest was lost. There is a lot of random world building that is interesting but not really elaborated on in a satisfying way.
A post apocalypic world, a scavenger travelling through it with her amorphous squid-like monster sidekick.... I liked the description of this book it sounded like it would be right up my alley, but found it very confusing and difficult to follow along with the plot and struggled through the slow pacing. I ended up having to kind of skim through it and find scenes that I enjoyed and then skim again once my interest was lost. There is a lot of random world building that is interesting but not really elaborated on in a satisfying way.
kimrader111's review against another edition
5.0
What do you do when the perfect review of a book has already been written? Here it is...
http://heradas.com/2017/03/review-borne-by-jeff-vandermeer/
http://heradas.com/2017/03/review-borne-by-jeff-vandermeer/
kamasue's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. I read it, I was mildly entertained by it, and that's kind of it. I guess this being the 2nd book of his I feel this way about, I see a pattern.
nonamethedude's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0