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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Okay what on earth did I read? It's a pretty stark departure from Borne and The Strange Bird - both of which I loved. This is far more fragmented and experimental. Which I know is kind of the point, but a lot of it was lost on me. Felt pretty exhausted reading it.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wouldn't call this enjoyable to read, but it had a lot of interesting concepts that I loved.
Lots to think about with this one. I did like it but it was challenging for me (and much more violent/ disturbing than I was ready for). Overall worth the read, and might reread to piece it together a bit more.
slow-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a quick read; non-linear storytelling that works for the most part. i have a feeling this book is one that does better after a second read—it’s kind of hard to understand just what’s happening until you’ve read it yk. as always, jeff vandermeer does a really good job of writing b-roll, and it doesn’t go too far into obnoxiously abstract. there are plot points i still am not the clearest on, but i’m bought in enough to be willing to read it again.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like most of VanderMeer's works, star ratings are useless WRT my actual experience. The book evolved far away from what I'd anticipated from the front half, but its hooks bit through the gills of my curiosity to the last gasp. Ask me in a year whether I liked it - I probably won't have an answer but I'll have wholeheartedly recommended it to every eco-mindfuck genre nerd I meet in the interim.
i really enjoyed even though i almost always was confused
This is a very interesting book. The style of writing is very poetic, in a way that what you read creates vivid mental pictures and emotions from each paragraph. Reminds me of We by Zamyatin. I really enjoy the style but the narrative does seem to break down and becomes very difficult to follow in the second half of the book, and I feel a lot of sections do not respect the reader's time with repeated and redundant sections. I felt the ending did return to form, but only for a brief few pages before the end of the book which I thought could have been expanded on. Overall, an interesting read with its difficult sections.
I love experimentation, and novels like this that layer image upon image to create a sort of meaning clouded in ambivalence. This is not for everyone, and don’t expect it to make as much sense as Borne #1. But, as with most Vandermeer, enjoy the layers, the journey, the weird.