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novelinsights 's review for:
Absolution
by Jeff VanderMeer
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a very odd, fever dream of a book, which is exactly what it needed to be. The book was broken up into three sections with vastly different POVs/narrative styles for each. The voice of the final third was by far my favorite--VanderMeer wrote his pants off to do it so well--but it was very abrasive, so while I loved it, I could see others being turned off by it.
The main reason I took a star off from this was because it didn't really feel like it built up to a payoff. I enjoyed reading about everything that was happening, and it was very interesting to discover strange things happening before Area X was formed, but while I knew we weren't going to get a logical explanation for everything, I still thought there would be a bit more to pull it all together in the end. Part of me feels like it would benefit from a second reading, like a missed something, but I think it's just a non-traditional plot structure for a non-traditional book.
The main reason I took a star off from this was because it didn't really feel like it built up to a payoff. I enjoyed reading about everything that was happening, and it was very interesting to discover strange things happening before Area X was formed, but while I knew we weren't going to get a logical explanation for everything, I still thought there would be a bit more to pull it all together in the end. Part of me feels like it would benefit from a second reading, like a missed something, but I think it's just a non-traditional plot structure for a non-traditional book.