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pterodog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book took me a little while to get into because it was slightly confusing at the start. Jeff VanderMeer's writing style is pretty unique and it took time to adjust to it, but once I sat down to start reading it properly with plenty of free time (almost 8 months after I started it, oops) I found it super gripping and pretty much impossible to put down and ended up finishing it that day.
To me, this is a book about change, both personal and ecological. It's about what happens when you're not looking, or when you're looking so hard at something else that you fail to keep an eye on the world around you. It's also about humanity's impact on the planet, ecoterrorism, climate change and the futility of expecting (or hoping) for one person to 'fix' everything.
What I really liked about this book was how all-consuming it is. Silvina Vilcapampa was consumed by her quest to save the planet. Jane Smith was consumed by Silvina's story and by her own traumatic childhood. Hellbender is consumed by his need to know what Silvina's final achievement was. One way or another, the main characters have a goal that they are willing to give up everything for, whether that goal is good or not - and one way or another, it does in the end consume them. Jane loses her family, Hellbender loses the woman he loves and Silvina loses her life. Despite this, reading it felt hopeful in a way, especially the last quarter of the book. Despite the world around Jane arguably starting to end (a briefly mentioned pandemic, white supremacist militias rising, air pollution and unchecked climate change) she spends 5 years of her life living with nature, and nature does endure. I found it strangely hopeful in the end, especially with Jane's final sacrifice.
I also liked how it really held onto the mystery aspect. VanderMeer gives you bits and pieces of the story but it doesn't all tie together until the final pages. Some of the reveals I wasn't too shocked by (Jane killing her grandfather, for example) but some of them genuinely took me by surprise (Silvina and the farm! What the hell!) and it was a really fun ride once Jane started putting all the pieces together.
A lot of other reviews have mentioned that they didn't like Jane, but I found her fun to read about. She is completely unapologetic about any of her choices, even the objectively terrible ones, and she's so methodical and straight-shooting that it takes a while before you start to notice how often she admits she hasn't been forthcoming with the reader and wonder how much else she's keeping back. She's not necessarily a likeable character but she is engaging and I was rooting for her overall, even if I was rooting for her husband and daughter much more.
Overall I really really enjoyed this book. I found the Southern Reach trilogy difficult because there was so much about it I didn't understand, and Hummingbird Salamander was similar to that but had enough of the plot set in stone and firmly explained that I didn't end up frustrated at the end. It's sad, but deeply gripping and very topical.
To me, this is a book about change, both personal and ecological. It's about what happens when you're not looking, or when you're looking so hard at something else that you fail to keep an eye on the world around you. It's also about humanity's impact on the planet, ecoterrorism, climate change and the futility of expecting (or hoping) for one person to 'fix' everything.
I also liked how it really held onto the mystery aspect. VanderMeer gives you bits and pieces of the story but it doesn't all tie together until the final pages. Some of the reveals I wasn't too shocked by (Jane killing her grandfather, for example) but some of them genuinely took me by surprise (Silvina and the farm! What the hell!) and it was a really fun ride once Jane started putting all the pieces together.
A lot of other reviews have mentioned that they didn't like Jane, but I found her fun to read about. She is completely unapologetic about any of her choices, even the objectively terrible ones, and she's so methodical and straight-shooting that it takes a while before you start to notice how often she admits she hasn't been forthcoming with the reader and wonder how much else she's keeping back. She's not necessarily a likeable character but she is engaging and I was rooting for her overall, even if I was rooting for her husband and daughter much more.
Overall I really really enjoyed this book. I found the Southern Reach trilogy difficult because there was so much about it I didn't understand, and Hummingbird Salamander was similar to that but had enough of the plot set in stone and firmly explained that I didn't end up frustrated at the end. It's sad, but deeply gripping and very topical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
mgmotley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, and Gun violence
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Stalking, and Torture
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Police brutality, Ableism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and War
crowcore's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I finished this book on a train ride from California to Washington-- a hurricane was hitting southern California and everywhere north of there was on fire, all the way up to Canada. The smoke was so thick at some points on the track that the only thing we could see out of the windows were the powerlines, and some parts of the track were too hot to go at top speed safely so we spent an extra few hours breathing in smoke.
So the book felt a little on the nose 😬
So the book felt a little on the nose 😬
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexism, Stalking, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Deportation, Confinement, Infidelity, Medical content, Torture, and Genocide
caprivoyant's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.5
Audiobook review:
It's hard for me to tell if this is a criticism for the book itself or just for the audio version, but this book was just "ok" for me. I read it with my honey through a number of car trips, and it never really got thrilling? I think maybe if I wasn't expecting a thriller, I could have gotten more into the book...? But, then again, maybe not. The narrator of this book sounded bored. And it made me bored. So maybe I wouldn't have liked it at all no matter what. 😐
Is this the experience with the physical book? I have no idea. I think I would have added emotion to the text version of this book if I were reading the pages instead of listening to a voice actor's interpretations of this one. But maybe the main character is just flat anyway? I HAVE NO IDEA!
END OF REVIEW 🐦
⚠ Some of the Content Warnings for this book, I don't really know how to put in the section below. So I'll start here and do my best in that section down there. Taxidermy! Dead animals (they're not being killed in the book, they're just dead), fatphobia, eco-terrorism, death of parents (mentioned), child abuse, murder (some in self-defense), infidelity, medical content, fighting/gore-ish, and poking eyes out/maiming of taxidermied things?!??! What is the CW for that?!
It's hard for me to tell if this is a criticism for the book itself or just for the audio version, but this book was just "ok" for me. I read it with my honey through a number of car trips, and it never really got thrilling? I think maybe if I wasn't expecting a thriller, I could have gotten more into the book...? But, then again, maybe not. The narrator of this book sounded bored. And it made me bored. So maybe I wouldn't have liked it at all no matter what. 😐
Is this the experience with the physical book? I have no idea. I think I would have added emotion to the text version of this book if I were reading the pages instead of listening to a voice actor's interpretations of this one. But maybe the main character is just flat anyway? I HAVE NO IDEA!
END OF REVIEW 🐦
⚠ Some of the Content Warnings for this book, I don't really know how to put in the section below. So I'll start here and do my best in that section down there. Taxidermy! Dead animals (they're not being killed in the book, they're just dead), fatphobia, eco-terrorism, death of parents (mentioned), child abuse, murder (some in self-defense), infidelity, medical content, fighting/gore-ish, and poking eyes out/maiming of taxidermied things?!??! What is the CW for that?!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
kelseyland's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An eco-thriller set in the near future, in which a security consultant turns detective to unravel the mystery left for her by a radical environmental activist. It's an unsettling, timely, and captivating book in which VanderMeer examines (among other things) the consequences of human action and apathy on the natural world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child abuse, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Gore
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
sorryiambooked's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
I don't even know where to start with this book.
When I looked up the author’s name to check spelling, I saw that under his Wikiepedia page, it says that he’s a part of the literary movement New Weird. Which is probably the most accurate thing I’ve read. VanderMeer excels at bringing a new level of interesting and weird in speculative fiction/ science fiction (even though I’ve only read two of his books so far, including Hummingbird).
The thing is, I didn’t love this book. It’s touted as an eco-thriller yet the thriller part wasn’t at the level that I personally prefer and enjoy. Hummingbird, I found, was a lot more subtle with the thriller aspects, playing the long game with the reader. Keeping me interested just enough to keep turning the page. Which tends to be more of a least favorite kind of thriller. Even though one of the twists was really good, I started to suspect about halfway through the book.
I also went in with a high level of expectation of the writing. When I read Annihilation, I was enamored with VanderMeer’s writing. This book, however, VanderMeer’s writing is more direct with shorter sentences and less awesome descriptive writing. Though I will acknowledge that having that kind of writing wouldn’t have fit into this book.
I did enjoy the commentary on how humans and our behavior, without bothering to realize, are slowly killing the Earth by ruining fragile and important ecosystems. Which in turn tends to make us more fragile and less likely to be able to adapt to major changes in our natural environment; where we don’t stand a chance when something like a pandemic hits. This book clearly was published at an interesting time and hits fairly close to home with current events.
However, the whole of the book was too meandering for me. I didn’t much care for our MC “Jane Smith” and because of that I disliked the parts where she tells a story about her childhood; those parts rarely felt necessary to me and while meant to be a look into the characterization of Jane, I rarely cared.
Honestly, I think this is going to be one of those books where a reader will either enjoy it or not enjoy it. Even though I find myself in the middle, I’m not sure that the characters and overall plot matter so much as the social commentary that VanderMeer makes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Child death, and Death of parent
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