Reviews

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

possumrevine's review against another edition

3.0

too much worms

abadab's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

daniup's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

jagisoffline's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

domthedev's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0

jayseewhy's review against another edition

3.0

I primarily got this book because it’s follow-up was the nicest looking book I’d ever seen (and I love to judge a book by its cover).

I love Jeff VanderMeer’s fascination with the weird and fantastic. One of his earlier books, Annihilation, shows that he has an incredible to weave the strangeness from his imagination into suspenseful mystery. Where his writing seems weaker is in the telling of more concrete stories and this was no different with Borne where the overarching story seemed lacking in cohesion.

It was still a lot of fun to read and had many great moments.

spachecofores's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

lost_keys's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Vandermeer’s prose is so chewy and toothsome, and his characters are so human and strange. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Animal death and Torture

melissa_bookworm's review

3.0

This was a 2.5 Star read for me.

I didn't warm to the story at all. I read the first two in VanderMeer's Southern Reach Series, which I found quite disturbing, Borne didn't have the same sort of vibe. It was mainly post apocalyptic strangeness rather than the unsettling events of Southern Reach. Sci-Fi isn't a genre that I read widely in and this wasn't one of my favourites.

I found some of the concepts, like the biotech. The beetles are meant to be small diagnostic technology, but can be eaten as a meal for several people and can block a door. Mord was strange as well, that he was a gigantic flying bear which was engineered from a human (HOWWWWW?). I think I was looking for more of an explanation than is necessary, but it definitely impacted on my enjoyment.

The only part I enjoyed was the reveal of the secrets Wick was keeping towards the end. The book was well written but I couldn't connect with the text. Probably wouldn't recommend to people who don't read lots of sci-fi.

venrus_stryder's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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? No

5.0