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What Members Thought
I couldn't put this down. I loved the setting, the unreliable narrator. I see the comparisons to Lovecraft, but the thing it actually reminded me of was Lost, in a good way. Mysterious locations, horrors familiar and unfamiliar, experiments, unreliability. Did I mention the landscape? Vandermeer has said that the landscape is lifted straight from his hikes in his local nature preserve. I believe it from the level of detail. I'm glad I bought all three at once so I don't have to wait to see what
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Ok I bought into the hype and downloaded this new audio. The setting of the story never became crystal clear to me. At some point, something happens that negatively effects an area that becomes know as area "x". The rest of the plant seems to have undergone some trauma but technology seems to be back up to current levels. This is the twelfth expedition into area x by scientist, trying to determine exactly the current state of affairs.
This story has a surreal feel to it. There is an underlining f ...more
This story has a surreal feel to it. There is an underlining f ...more
I did not love this audiobook. I am a person who likes to KNOW things (eventually! It doesn't have to be immediately!) and this is decidedly a book that doesn't give a fuck about that.
I really wish I had tried it in print, because this is a tough book to follow, and I think I would have gotten more out of it had I had the chance to flip back and reread certain passages. However, I didn't like the story enough to retry it in print, so oh well.
I've heard from folks that were also "meh" on this f ...more
I really wish I had tried it in print, because this is a tough book to follow, and I think I would have gotten more out of it had I had the chance to flip back and reread certain passages. However, I didn't like the story enough to retry it in print, so oh well.
I've heard from folks that were also "meh" on this f ...more
Real rating: 3.5. (I add the 0.5 just because I am curious enough to continue reading this series).
Tiring, but yet I keep going. I think I tend to keep reading a SF/F book if contains mistery or it is a kind of a thriller. I cannot let go until it is solved.
The following might contains spoiler, although I don't think it matters.
It was told from a first-person perspective, the biologist. All characters in this book (at least all characters at the present) are females, but I don't have time to und ...more
Tiring, but yet I keep going. I think I tend to keep reading a SF/F book if contains mistery or it is a kind of a thriller. I cannot let go until it is solved.
The following might contains spoiler, although I don't think it matters.
It was told from a first-person perspective, the biologist. All characters in this book (at least all characters at the present) are females, but I don't have time to und ...more
This was unsettling and intriguing. I definitely couldn't wait to find out what happened next! This sets up an immediate setting (Area X) and an outside setting (the government sending the expedition) really effectively. Which is the larger source of danger? Who has what motivations? What is going ON?
The potential for answers is complicated by the narrator. We have only her point of view - her journal. Her perceptions may be unreliable, her interpretations even more so. Or she may wind up as the ...more
The potential for answers is complicated by the narrator. We have only her point of view - her journal. Her perceptions may be unreliable, her interpretations even more so. Or she may wind up as the ...more
This freaked me out a bit, I think because Mr. Vandermeer's writing is so good that my imagination sort of filled in the blanks. Very recommended and I will start the second book of this trilogy soon.
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Updated on reread: Downgraded a star, but more a reflection on my updated feelings on ratings, rather than a change in enjoyment. The large amount of imagery in this was hard for me to follow, since I'm not a hugely visual reader. And I find the main character so hard to deal with, probably because I feel like we're very similar in some ways, and just completely different in others, so she gives me a bit of mental whiplash. Will actually continue with the series this time. I'm planning on listen
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I did not like this book and have no desire to read the next two. I gave it two stars because I did finish reading it.
Well written mood piece that poses lots of questions and doesn't really answer any of them. Doesn't feel action packed even though interesting things are going on all the time. Left me wanting to know more and hence inclined to try the rest of the series but have a sneaky feeling I won't come out of the experience feeling any better informed then when I first went into Area X.
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I had no idea what to expect from this read and ended up being pleasantly surprised. An amalgam of mystery, mayhem and monsters(?) as well as the narrative approach make this an engaging reading experience.
Jul 26, 2014
Gaijinmama
marked it as to-read
Dec 02, 2014
Selena Calingo
marked it as to-read
Jun 05, 2015
Kamilah
marked it as to-read
