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patkohn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.75
cameron_book's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
sambiddlestone's review against another edition
3.0
Seems to understand that Silvina is more interesting as a character than Jane but doesn’t quite do enough about it.
fishky's review against another edition
3.0
This and Dead Astronauts were probably 3.5s. What confused me about this book is that it was a single person POV narrative that followed a clear timeline, instead of the abstract chaos I was expecting from a Vandermeer book.
The start and the end were both intriguing to me, but the action-packed middle somehow made me feel.....detached. "Jane" has no real human relationships or interactions: her aloofness is relatable at first, and then kind of exhausting. I did not really care about the siblings, John, her brother, Shot, or Silv -- none of them felt very textured. I wish I'd learned more about her husband, daughter and Allie. I wish the Ned connection had meant more. I didn't understand why Silv learning (how?) what Jane did to Shot would cause her to justify the wreckage she inflicted, nor did I understand what was contentious about Silv's beliefs or why anyone even had to die for them. Maybe I didn't understand the syringes enough.
I wish the mysteries were the kind that made you go "OH!" instead of patterns that only made sense with backstory we didn't have.
What was the significance of the taxidermy book????
The story itself reminded me of my own attempts at writing through existential eco-future panic, and Jane's final decision -- and her feelings about Silv -- were, somehow, a weird mix of calm and emotional, rational in a whimsical framework, giving up/ giving in/ rising above and probably what I at that point would decide to do. I felt emotionally affirmed, but it wasn't a cathartic moment. And I loved everything about the hummingbirds and salamanders. If I imagine this as like, a movie starring Gwendoline Christie, I can see this pacing and the action/escalation as making sense, especially if the pacing with the larger environment around the characters is kept more obviously in parallel. But as is, I feel like there was a missed opportunity for worldbuilding and backstory.
Headcannon: Jane is Salamander from Dead Astronauts.
Spoiler
The start and the end were both intriguing to me, but the action-packed middle somehow made me feel.....detached. "Jane" has no real human relationships or interactions: her aloofness is relatable at first, and then kind of exhausting. I did not really care about the siblings, John, her brother, Shot, or Silv -- none of them felt very textured. I wish I'd learned more about her husband, daughter and Allie. I wish the Ned connection had meant more. I didn't understand why Silv learning (how?) what Jane did to Shot would cause her to justify the wreckage she inflicted, nor did I understand what was contentious about Silv's beliefs or why anyone even had to die for them. Maybe I didn't understand the syringes enough.
I wish the mysteries were the kind that made you go "OH!" instead of patterns that only made sense with backstory we didn't have.
What was the significance of the taxidermy book????
The story itself reminded me of my own attempts at writing through existential eco-future panic, and Jane's final decision -- and her feelings about Silv -- were, somehow, a weird mix of calm and emotional, rational in a whimsical framework, giving up/ giving in/ rising above and probably what I at that point would decide to do. I felt emotionally affirmed, but it wasn't a cathartic moment. And I loved everything about the hummingbirds and salamanders. If I imagine this as like, a movie starring Gwendoline Christie, I can see this pacing and the action/escalation as making sense, especially if the pacing with the larger environment around the characters is kept more obviously in parallel. But as is, I feel like there was a missed opportunity for worldbuilding and backstory.
Headcannon: Jane is Salamander from Dead Astronauts.
alisonburnis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A security analyst who gives her name as “Jane Smith” receives a note from her barista one day, signed Silvina. Grabbed by the mystery, Jane quickly finds out Silvina was a bioterrorist from Argentina, the daughter of a corrupt oligarch. And also someone who has some kind of strange mission for her.
This is creepy, unsettling, very tense speculative fiction. It’s set in a near-future US, and trails the crumbling of society in conjunction with what Silvina was trying to do and the chase Jane is sent on. I really loved this one! I devoured it in a day, racing through it on my bus commutes (which normally I wouldn’t be so fierce in that reading time). Excellent work.
This is creepy, unsettling, very tense speculative fiction. It’s set in a near-future US, and trails the crumbling of society in conjunction with what Silvina was trying to do and the chase Jane is sent on. I really loved this one! I devoured it in a day, racing through it on my bus commutes (which normally I wouldn’t be so fierce in that reading time). Excellent work.
annamickreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5!
I think this book had all the classic staples of a VanderMeer book and that's not a bad thing! But if you were expecting something entirely different, then I can see how you'd be dissatisfied.
"Hummingbird Salamander" follows an anonymous female narrator known as "Jane Smith" through a recording of an incident where she was tasked by a deceased bioterrorist (Silvina) to follow a series of clues for an unknown result. "Jane" is a digital security consultant who is good at her job - to a point - until the ghosts of Silvina's past start viewing Jane as a threat. The narrator and the activist had no prior relationship, so the mystery of the task and the clues are arguably what drives the narrative forward.
Readers quickly discover that the bioterrorist was facing off against her own father, who ran a series of shell corporations that polluted the environment, and a third party wildlife trafficker named Langer. As "Jane" attempts to do work-life balance and solve a mystery, the task at hand quickly spills into her personal life and puts her on the run.
To me, the book also felt very short - we got as much backstory as can be expected from a VanderMeer novel where the protagonist is typically pretty anonymous and reveals themselves slowly, but there was something about the pacing that made me want more, rather than jumping from clue to clue to clue.
I think this book had all the classic staples of a VanderMeer book and that's not a bad thing! But if you were expecting something entirely different, then I can see how you'd be dissatisfied.
"Hummingbird Salamander" follows an anonymous female narrator known as "Jane Smith" through a recording of an incident where she was tasked by a deceased bioterrorist (Silvina) to follow a series of clues for an unknown result. "Jane" is a digital security consultant who is good at her job - to a point - until the ghosts of Silvina's past start viewing Jane as a threat. The narrator and the activist had no prior relationship, so the mystery of the task and the clues are arguably what drives the narrative forward.
Readers quickly discover that the bioterrorist was facing off against her own father, who ran a series of shell corporations that polluted the environment, and a third party wildlife trafficker named Langer. As "Jane" attempts to do work-life balance and solve a mystery, the task at hand quickly spills into her personal life and puts her on the run.
To me, the book also felt very short - we got as much backstory as can be expected from a VanderMeer novel where the protagonist is typically pretty anonymous and reveals themselves slowly, but there was something about the pacing that made me want more, rather than jumping from clue to clue to clue.
avidreadr's review against another edition
5.0
One of the weirdest books I've ever read; I loved it.
piqnick14's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
I guess I was kind of confused here...the lack of character specificity didn't help and made the plot kind of abstract to me with how all the key players were connected and what exactly the main drivers were.
edenangus's review against another edition
reflective
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
2.5