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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
DNF: Kind of a bummer with an unlikable main character and confusing plot
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I wanted to like this, as I'd really enjoyed the Southern Reach trilogy. But I really didn't.
It was all told through one character's eyes, which is fine, but she missed so much information the story seemed incomplete. Nothing was filled I'm enough to be satisfying.
And after finishin the book, I still don't understand WHY it all happened. She's left to complete what is essentially a convoluted, violent treasure hunt, and I don't understand why any of it was necessary.
It was all told through one character's eyes, which is fine, but she missed so much information the story seemed incomplete. Nothing was filled I'm enough to be satisfying.
And after finishin the book, I still don't understand WHY it all happened. She's left to complete what is essentially a convoluted, violent treasure hunt, and I don't understand why any of it was necessary.
I’m a big fan of VanderMeer’s other books, so this one was a letdown. It was so slow moving and confusing. The writing style was strange and minimalistic, most sentences didn’t have a subject. It was hard to follow at some points and there was not much to hold on to. I enjoyed his world building, as always, but that was more of the background of this book rather than the forefront. There wasn’t really a character to root for, and the payoff at the end wasn’t worth the journey to get there... pretty disappointed. The only thing to take away from this book was to be aware of our impact on the environment, but there are more interesting books to invest your time in than this one unfortunately.
I guess maybe I expected more from Vandermeer but honestly wow. A pointless shitty story about a shitty person. No likable characters and a purposelessly depressing and unlikable plot. It’s like he had I idea of a thought of what this book would be and just grasped around in the dark for a few hundred pages. If you want good sci-fi that focuses in on animal rights and trafficking, go read “The mountain in the sea” and “The tusks of extinction”. Not what ever this clumsy attempt at saying something about our relationship to nature is. The .5 I’ll give him is that he is a very eloquent writer and is incredible at setting an eerie undertone.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So dang strange. Unique writing style. Just bizarre, a bit confusing, slightly disjointed. Reminded me of writings in my philosophy class…. Not recommended.
Overall, I enjoyed this read. I really like VanderMeer’s writing, the way he has of phrasing a thought or feeling. That goes a long way for me, so I rated this highly in large part because of that.
I think the plot and pacing struggled. Especially some moments at the end. The convenience of Langer being alive, finding her, and Jack finding her as well and shooting Langer just in time. Felt kind of silly and basic after the rest of the book. And the idea that Silvina created this “ark” and magic elixir pushed believability for me. Again, it felt silly compared to the rest of the book.
It is a bit misleading to call this a thriller. It has its action-y, tense moments, but it’s largely introspective and quiet. That works perfectly for me, but would be a letdown if you wanted something else.
I enjoyed the themes of this book, though. We are at this moment of existential crisis with climate change and yet we continue on like everything will be fine. That our minor tweaks will be good enough, if we do even that. Just steadily moving toward that cliff, ready to fall off to our doom. I actually did not find this book too preachy, but I think others might. I found Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver more of the too didactic type. This book reminded me a LOT of Zazen by Vanessa Veselka, which I also really enjoyed and didn’t find too preachy.
I love that ultimately Silvina was trying to save the world through compassionate means, though I didn’t need as many answers as the end gave me. I just love the hope of it, the attempt to integrate more with the Earth in harmony.
Favorite quotes:
Next year, there would be no conference. A few years later, businesses hawking wares would have changed. The old ones washed away by the shock of realization: the physical laws of the universe didn’t give a fuck about them. Wouldn’t protect them just because they existed and sold things.
Delusional. Naïve. Unworkable. Dangerous. That is what the enemy called the necessities for survival. For flourishing.
I think the plot and pacing struggled. Especially some moments at the end. The convenience of Langer being alive, finding her, and Jack finding her as well and shooting Langer just in time. Felt kind of silly and basic after the rest of the book. And the idea that Silvina created this “ark” and magic elixir pushed believability for me. Again, it felt silly compared to the rest of the book.
It is a bit misleading to call this a thriller. It has its action-y, tense moments, but it’s largely introspective and quiet. That works perfectly for me, but would be a letdown if you wanted something else.
I enjoyed the themes of this book, though. We are at this moment of existential crisis with climate change and yet we continue on like everything will be fine. That our minor tweaks will be good enough, if we do even that. Just steadily moving toward that cliff, ready to fall off to our doom. I actually did not find this book too preachy, but I think others might. I found Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver more of the too didactic type. This book reminded me a LOT of Zazen by Vanessa Veselka, which I also really enjoyed and didn’t find too preachy.
I love that ultimately Silvina was trying to save the world through compassionate means, though I didn’t need as many answers as the end gave me. I just love the hope of it, the attempt to integrate more with the Earth in harmony.
Favorite quotes:
Next year, there would be no conference. A few years later, businesses hawking wares would have changed. The old ones washed away by the shock of realization: the physical laws of the universe didn’t give a fuck about them. Wouldn’t protect them just because they existed and sold things.
Delusional. Naïve. Unworkable. Dangerous. That is what the enemy called the necessities for survival. For flourishing.
not my favorite hentai of pennywise that’s for sure
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes