grey_goo 's review for:

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer

4.0

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book is very good. If you read the southern reach trilogy, this Is a good expansion, although there is a little bit of the inherent dilution of horror as it is further expanded upon. Vandermeer's prose has a way of kind of disintegrating into poetry that is equally powerful and frustrating, because it is cool and pretty, but means that the book rapidly oscillates between straightforward understanding and requiring literary close reading to figure out what is happening.