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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
A security consultant calling herself only "Jane Doe" is given a lead by a barista, and finds herself drawn into a web of animal trafficking, environmental activism, and eco-terrorism set against the backdrop of a world facing a looming pandemic and crossing the tipping point of climate change.
This reads as a noir detective story, and one that doesn't even really feel like SF until about the last 10%. Once it crosses into that final stretch though, the tone of the entire work begins to take on the feeling of spiraling toward the beginning of a post-apocalypse (though whether its outcome is actually apocalyptic is ambiguous), which I guess makes it a Pre-Apocalyptic Eco-Noir, which is a strange genre designation. Regardless, I think I wound up liking it more as a result of that than I did during the process of reading it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Not as “jeff”y as I would have hoped. Definitely this is a book written by a guy who lives in the woods and takes cares of the wildlife around him. Not quite “old man yells at cloud” but it’s getting there.
Not as bad as it could be, but didn’t blow me away. Solid middle of the road Jeff content.
Not as bad as it could be, but didn’t blow me away. Solid middle of the road Jeff content.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When I read Annihilation, I was absolutely enthralled. The entire trilogy sucked me in viscerally in a way that horror books had never done before, so I was just thrilled when Hummingbird Salamander came out.
The best I can say is that it's interesting? But god is it confusing. VanderMeer excels at describing the natural world, but the way that he makes the narrator describe these things is completely unbelievable. She works in security - cool, so why does she know so much about flora and fauna the way a scientist would? The way she throws herself into the mystery for no apparent reason is unbelievable. We are given no reason as to why should would follow this rabbit hole, she just does it, in a way that wrecks her entire world - for literally no purpose. The way the characters react around her is unbelievable. No one knows anyone but acts like they all slept together for weeks in college. None of it really follows any train of logic.
The only reason why I've given it as many stars as I have is because I was intrigued. The world is ending, and VanderMeer makes it plain that this is a future we are currently careening towards in the real world. It's the world that keeps me up at night in an existential panic. The characters are living through that future that I know could happen, and instead of making a big deal out of these things, he just throws them in as tiny details. Which makes it all the more real. Because it's the way we currently talk about these things in the news. It feels real. And that is horrible.
The best I can say is that it's interesting? But god is it confusing. VanderMeer excels at describing the natural world, but the way that he makes the narrator describe these things is completely unbelievable. She works in security - cool, so why does she know so much about flora and fauna the way a scientist would? The way she throws herself into the mystery for no apparent reason is unbelievable. We are given no reason as to why should would follow this rabbit hole, she just does it, in a way that wrecks her entire world - for literally no purpose. The way the characters react around her is unbelievable. No one knows anyone but acts like they all slept together for weeks in college. None of it really follows any train of logic.
The only reason why I've given it as many stars as I have is because I was intrigued. The world is ending, and VanderMeer makes it plain that this is a future we are currently careening towards in the real world. It's the world that keeps me up at night in an existential panic. The characters are living through that future that I know could happen, and instead of making a big deal out of these things, he just throws them in as tiny details. Which makes it all the more real. Because it's the way we currently talk about these things in the news. It feels real. And that is horrible.
Oof. I… did not like this. I thought I should, and that I WOULD, so I kept going. But I must have missed something somewhere? A small but critical piece of the plot, because mostly I was juuust confused enough to keep listening but not enough to catch what was going on. And if I DIDN’T miss anything, well.
Definitely a page turner; though I felt the climax was meh. (2 or 3 stars)
It is a wake-up call on climate change and the dying of the planet.
A end-times view of what we are headed for. In that respect it was chilling. (4th star)
It is a wake-up call on climate change and the dying of the planet.
A end-times view of what we are headed for. In that respect it was chilling. (4th star)
This one was very disappointing, probably because I had my expectations too high. The main character was extremely unlikeable and not very believable. Her background felt contrived and she treated other characters abominably. The other characters were not well-rounded, mostly being generic stereotypes and/or over-the-top. It all read like a Hollywood thriller. Maybe that’s all the author wanted it to be, but I was hoping for something more.
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced