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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hummingbird Salamander started out like a stop-motion film and—out of nowhere—transformed into Mission Impossible. It was incredibly slow and kind of boring. Until it wasn’t. From 0 to 1000. Did I mention how abruptly the story shifted? I’m writing this review months later, and I think I still have whiplash.
This is the least on-brand work of VanderMeer’s. It’s not particularly weird (by his standards) or fantastical/supernatural (by his standards)—It’s more so giving detective noir mixed with Narcos and How to Blow Up a Pipeline.
One constant across his books that we also find in Hummingbird Salamander is his skill in bringing to life some of my most heinous tactile, olfactory, and gustatory nightmares. I have not been able to rid myself of the sensory horrors he subjected me to in this book—the scrape of a beak against your skin, the permeating stench and crackle of fat assaulting your nose, the taste of how an animal smells lingering on your tongue… Thanks, I hate it.
Overall, an entertaining read full of clever quips and funny moments (I’m looking at you, purse tampons) but a little bit of a bummer in that it wasn’t as absurd as I’ve come to expect from VanderMeer.
This is the least on-brand work of VanderMeer’s. It’s not particularly weird (by his standards) or fantastical/supernatural (by his standards)—It’s more so giving detective noir mixed with Narcos and How to Blow Up a Pipeline.
One constant across his books that we also find in Hummingbird Salamander is his skill in bringing to life some of my most heinous tactile, olfactory, and gustatory nightmares. I have not been able to rid myself of the sensory horrors he subjected me to in this book—the scrape of a beak against your skin, the permeating stench and crackle of fat assaulting your nose, the taste of how an animal smells lingering on your tongue… Thanks, I hate it.
Overall, an entertaining read full of clever quips and funny moments (I’m looking at you, purse tampons) but a little bit of a bummer in that it wasn’t as absurd as I’ve come to expect from VanderMeer.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The flow, the sheen of oddness coating a grounded banal world. The journey we go on is extraordinary and compelling where it almost shouldn't be.
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Incredible. Jeff Vandermeer is brilliant. Will never stop reading his work, and this one was just…incredible. The quote on the front says “you won’t look up once while reading” and it is true.
I usually like Vandermeer, but I could not get behind this one. Her obsession with Silvina made no sense. I finished because I like the author, but it was work.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't like it. It was well written, there was nothing wrong with the book or the story. I just didn't like it that much.
Harrowing and confusing. Creepy and disturbing. Are you intrigued? Then this eco-thriller might be for you. I was, by turns, really into it and then barely hanging in there to get to the end. But did it end? I can’t be sure...and you may not be either.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced