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A review by jayseejewel
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
5.0
The setting for this story and its characters are going to stick with me for a while. This made me fall in love with weird scifi and I'm sad I didn't enjoy the author's other works because this one is great. Borne is a blend of strange, scifi, adventure, and a hint of romance and mystery.
What I liked:
- The setting. Post-apocalypse meets weird scifi tech. I loved it. The creepy survivors of the mutated city going against the weird tech that used to be human. It was great and all the little touches really immersed me in the story. Everything felt hopeless from the start, making the survival all the more important.
- The characters. Jeff knows how to write a good female characters. She's likeable, intelligent, logical, flawed, and emotional. She has strengths she utilizes and flaws that have real consequences. I never thought she was dumb for making certain decisions, even if they weren't the smart thing to do.
- Borne is the highlight of the story. He's silly, adorable, and just the right bit of scary. You both feel bad for him, fear his potential, and want him to stick around. His mysterious concept and origin is the cherry on top.
- The romance. It felt realistic and gritty; a love story between two unlikely and flawed people who somehow make it work. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.
What I didn't like:
- Pacing toward the end got a bit slow
- The main villain wasn't really present and didn't have much of a personality when she did show up
- Not a con of this book, but I am sad I couldn't enjoy his other stories. The Strange Bird was fine but felt like dessert after this one. Annihilation was mysterious but ultimately disappointing. I tried to read the Astronaut one that comes after this but immediately didn't enjoy it. I do hope to see more from him. We'll see.
Overall, a great book for sci-fi and fantasy fans. I highly recommend it. It's weird and gritty but just the right kind of both.
What I liked:
- The setting. Post-apocalypse meets weird scifi tech. I loved it. The creepy survivors of the mutated city going against the weird tech that used to be human. It was great and all the little touches really immersed me in the story. Everything felt hopeless from the start, making the survival all the more important.
- The characters. Jeff knows how to write a good female characters. She's likeable, intelligent, logical, flawed, and emotional. She has strengths she utilizes and flaws that have real consequences. I never thought she was dumb for making certain decisions, even if they weren't the smart thing to do.
- Borne is the highlight of the story. He's silly, adorable, and just the right bit of scary. You both feel bad for him, fear his potential, and want him to stick around. His mysterious concept and origin is the cherry on top.
- The romance. It felt realistic and gritty; a love story between two unlikely and flawed people who somehow make it work. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.
What I didn't like:
- Pacing toward the end got a bit slow
- The main villain wasn't really present and didn't have much of a personality when she did show up
- Not a con of this book, but I am sad I couldn't enjoy his other stories. The Strange Bird was fine but felt like dessert after this one. Annihilation was mysterious but ultimately disappointing. I tried to read the Astronaut one that comes after this but immediately didn't enjoy it. I do hope to see more from him. We'll see.
Overall, a great book for sci-fi and fantasy fans. I highly recommend it. It's weird and gritty but just the right kind of both.