Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Yes
Sadly this one fell a little short for me. The beginning was intriguing but the plot is confusing and takes a while to go anywhere or get to the point. Jane is not the best lead, she is hard to connect and sympathise with. Her narrative just seems like rambling nonsense. I did consider a DNF but I continued because it’s VanderMeer, unfortunately the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped. I will read more from this author as a previous read was so strong but this one left me disappointed.
At times I thought this was too dense and slow moving. At other times I thought it was a brilliant piece of fiction. The ending was wonderful. I still haven't quite made up my mind so you should read it and decide for yourself!
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
Strange and mysterious. Mostly was confused the whole time, and then made a little more sense at the end
a very weird book that i had a rather hard time following, despite my best efforts. less science fiction-y than i had anticipated, and even at the end it didn’t seem to make as much since as i would have liked.
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unfortunately I found this to be my least favourite of VanderMeer's works.
While his usual themes of environmentalism and his usual style of prose are present I found the characters and world far too unengaging. Especially in the first half of the story, I could not even tell why me or the protagonist should be interested in the ongoing mystery and, while the protagonists connection to the mystery is later explored, I found it came too late. The pacing was also quite slow, I feel like a lot more pieces of the puzzle should have been given out in the first half of the story as it felt like reading long stretches where not much really happened or was discovered.
Fortunately I do think things picked up towards the end of the book. In the last 50 pages or so the pace picks up quite a bit and we start getting both answers to the mystery and reasons to care about the protagonists involvement in it. I just wish the rest of the novel had been like that. Ultimately the resolution to the mystery was completely unexpected and unexpectedly optimistic, and I enjoyed that.
While his usual themes of environmentalism and his usual style of prose are present I found the characters and world far too unengaging. Especially in the first half of the story, I could not even tell why me or the protagonist should be interested in the ongoing mystery and, while the protagonists connection to the mystery is later explored, I found it came too late. The pacing was also quite slow, I feel like a lot more pieces of the puzzle should have been given out in the first half of the story as it felt like reading long stretches where not much really happened or was discovered.
Fortunately I do think things picked up towards the end of the book. In the last 50 pages or so the pace picks up quite a bit and we start getting both answers to the mystery and reasons to care about the protagonists involvement in it. I just wish the rest of the novel had been like that. Ultimately the resolution to the mystery was completely unexpected and unexpectedly optimistic, and I enjoyed that.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes