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A review by dufremde
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this was one of those books where I managed to keep it together while reading despite feeling deeply for the characters, but as soon as I finished the last page the emotional weight hit me all at once and I became inconsolable.
for a story that features such an epic scope when it comes to time and place—this is a true space opera—it punches you right in the core by excavating what it means to be human, to love and lose and keep going, to seek connections and hold onto them in the face of unimaginable obstacles. the external stakes are brutal, with a failed relationship linked inextricably to the survival of mankind, and it's unflinching about the cost of lives both individual and uncountable; the role of corporations in negotiating these stakes and costs is a specter in the first half of the story that becomes more and more horrifyingly real and oppressive. but that, too, ultimately makes the story feel triumphantly hopeful on a human level. (I will add that reading this book at this specific moment in history, when there are unspeakable things happening in the world with considerable political and corporate blessing, makes it feel extra devastating.)
from a writing standpoint, I remain absolutely enamored with the way Jimenez weaves together storylines so stylishly and poetically. he gives purpose to side characters in a way that very few authors do; the first chapter, which initially feels like a narrative feint, becomes breathtaking in retrospect, after the rest of the story unravels and you realize how much care he puts into depicting the scope of every life.
for a story that features such an epic scope when it comes to time and place—this is a true space opera—it punches you right in the core by excavating what it means to be human, to love and lose and keep going, to seek connections and hold onto them in the face of unimaginable obstacles. the external stakes are brutal, with a failed relationship linked inextricably to the survival of mankind, and it's unflinching about the cost of lives both individual and uncountable; the role of corporations in negotiating these stakes and costs is a specter in the first half of the story that becomes more and more horrifyingly real and oppressive. but that, too, ultimately makes the story feel triumphantly hopeful on a human level. (I will add that reading this book at this specific moment in history, when there are unspeakable things happening in the world with considerable political and corporate blessing, makes it feel extra devastating.)
from a writing standpoint, I remain absolutely enamored with the way Jimenez weaves together storylines so stylishly and poetically. he gives purpose to side characters in a way that very few authors do; the first chapter, which initially feels like a narrative feint, becomes breathtaking in retrospect, after the rest of the story unravels and you realize how much care he puts into depicting the scope of every life.