Jeff VanderMeer's Borne: readalong

[Thomas]

Hey everyone, Thomas here, and I'm leading the readalong for Jeff VanderMeer's BORNE. This is a uniquely thrilling and moving story that I described as "what if China Miéville wrote My Neighbor Totoro". There is a lot to think about and discuss in this story of the strangest found-family who ever made their way through an ecological post-apocalypse. So this is the place to discuss all the things, and remember, please use SPOILER tags if you include any. Also, anyone curious to check out my own review of the book can do so here; it's spoiler-free but you may want to read the book first if you don't want your opinion influenced.

[Matt]

It was definitely weird, but an engaging read for me.

[Brock]

Excellent. Going to start in the next day or two.

[Maria Hill]

I am hoping to start this after my current read.

[Gelisvb]

Hi Thomas, your video was what made me want to read this, even if it's not my genre. I'm 7% so far and I have a good feeling about it

[Stephanie]

I loved this book. Hopefully, those who participate in the readalong will love it too!

[Jill]

I'm still tracking a copy down but I'm looking forward to this one. I've been a bit hit and miss with Vandermeer's stuff in the past but this sounds interesting

[Stephanie]

I really enjoyed this book but it did take me a little bit to get into it. I wasn't exactly sure where the story was going and it is a little weird. But once I got through the first 25% or so I started to really adore and care about Borne, Rachel & Wick. There were funny moments, exciting moments and some truly heartfelt moments.
Even with a slightly slow start I ended up reading the book in 2 days. I flew through the last half of the book.

4.5 stars

[Gelisvb]

I m at 52% and I am really into it

[Marc]

About 2/3rds of the way through it - I'm a sucker for this book - first - wacky apocalypse distopia second - Jeff VdM is a fantastic writer and I enjoy every page and third - a real focus on character - the individual characters and the city/scape itself as character - a really quiet melancholy/morose tale - its pretty sad and heartbreaking to read because jeez I just feel so much for Rachel throughout this - at times this verges on horror for me, I'm afraid to turn the page - it will be hard, super hard for another novel on the read along in this category to top this novel for me - excellent!

[Anita Reads]

I started on this, and read the first part (I'm not sure exactly how many parts it's divided into), and I'm already enjoying it a lot. I find Borne super interesting, and I'm really curious about him(?) or what he is. I've so far found the story weird, yet still super engaging and I was immediately interested in Borne's character.
Will have to put it down for the next week, due to other obligations, but I will for sure get back to it as soon as I can.

[Gelisvb]

I finished it yesterday and I was charmed . it's 4 star read for me. Rachel, wick, mord and Born were very characters I loved. My only issue is with the uneven pacing of the book and with the Magician

[Maria Hill]

I have just picked this up but as I have a Hardback copy I will only be reading it when I am at home. I will be reading my Mass Market paperback of Altered Carbon when commuting.

So hopefully it will be okay to dip into and out of?

[Jessica]

I think I gave this a 3.5stars when I read it. I liked the concepts about humanity, and Borne was really interesting to read about, but I felt a disconnect from the characters and story the whole time I was reading it. I felt like the Magician plot line was really thin and was just put in there to have a plot. This was definitely more of a character based book, which can be hit or miss for me. I think I just didn't connect with it the way I would have liked.

[Gelisvb]

Jessica wrote: "I think I gave this a 3.5stars when I read it. I liked the concepts about humanity, and Borne was really interesting to read about, but I felt a disconnect from the characters and story the whole t..."
I agree :-)

[[deleted user]]

Ok I've just started this on audiobook and am at the 9% mark. I'm already into this book. It's giving me similar vibes to Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. It's a slow burn story that's character driven in this strange post-apocalyptic world. It's not hard-hitting, in your face craziness. It's just the subtle, moment-to-moment reality of these people's lives. I'm really intrigued to see where this story goes. Also, I'm really grateful for Sam from Thoughts on Tomes book review on this one. It prepped me & put me in the right frame of mind for this story.

[Grace]

This was a book I have been wanting to read. I was excited it made it on the list as it just pushed me to actually read it. I needed a day or so after reading it to really let it all sink in. I did enjoy the book. It was weird but unique. I may not be as eloquent as some others but it just ended up being a great read. I see the family ties and the complicated relationships that arise. The biotech is out of this world! Can't wait to move on to more!!

[Marguerite]

I listened to the audiobook and loved it. Behni Turpin (the narrator) really brought Rachel to life for me.
The story and characters are so unusual. The focus on relationships was well done and relatable. I got so caught up in the relationship between Rachel and Borne that I find myself still thinking about it well after I finished the book.
Agree with others that the Magician could have been flushed out a bit more but for me it didn't detract from the story.

[Marc]

I just finished this and my first comments still apply about the great writing and the characters but the ending lost me a little bit - I would have been happy to see this one just trail off and not really have an ending or a major plot ending but leave it a bit mysterious (view spoiler)[ I just can't imagine Wick writing a letter like that. The prose just doesn't seem to be his style at all, and way too long and too much plot based explication. Also the Magician character was not very compelling and still a little confused what happened to her at the end and also how she was so easily defeated in a world were every single step seems tough how was she not killed by some other street smart scavenger years and years ago Again, still favorite book of the lot this month and will continue to read JvD with enthusiasm... (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

I am halfway through and really struggling. It's not that I actively dislike it, it just isn't connecting with me. Annihilation also didn't excite me, so maybe VanderMeer just isn't my style. 😞

[Rebecca]

I read Annihilation and really struggled with it, Borne seems to be the same for me. I guess I would agree they VanderMeer’s style is also not for me... oh well

[Brandy]

Just finished Borne it was an o.k read for me. It was bad but it wasn't great as a whole. I did love Borne and the discovery of what he was and the concepts of humanity and right verses wrong. That was very enjoyable to be. Unfortunately I didn't quite like Rachel and the dialogue was a bit off to me. Overall I gave it a 3 stars.

[Anita Reads]

I finished Borne this weekend.
I was a little unsure of how I wanted to rate this book, but I found myself invested in Borne's storyline through the whole book, and thought it did some interesting things, and so I end up on a 4 stars for this one.
I do think that it's a very hit and miss with people, and if you're not curious about Borne then it won't be something you'd enjoy. The writing was very strange, but I'm super happy I ended up listening to the audio, as the narration was done really well, and really managed to bring Borne to life.

[Maria Hill]

I just finished it yesterday and overall I enjoyed it. I would agree with Brandy it's an excellent exploration of what it means to be a person, human and why we are alive.

I really rather enjoyed the language and prose style. It read as if a woman wrote it. Which is I assume is the intention as its written in the first person.

I did find my interest lagged a little when (view spoiler)[ Borne was evicted from Balcony Cliffs (hide spoiler)]. So I would definitely agree if you are not interested in Borne you probably won't like this book.

[Keri]

I have to say this one just didn't do it for me. There was so much about the world building in this one that left me with questions. The concept was just weird, but that didn't really bug me that much. What it boiled down to was that I really was irritated by Rachel and wanted a lot more Borne. Borne was definitely my favorite character in this one.

[Shelby M.]

I just started it earlier today! It's definitely weird, but I'm intrigued.

[Maryam]

I finished this book yesterday and I really enjoyed it. It was definitely different from what I usually read, at first I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to connect with (I mean this story features a giant fliant bear and a sentient plant that can transform into anything so...) but the more I learned about the characters, the more I enjoyed this book.
It took me a while to read because it is quite slowpaced and sad. Rachel is a such a great character, I loved how she taught Borne what's it is like to be a person and I loved their banter. Wick was also very interesting and I liked to see how Borne influenced their relationship.
For me this book has really interesting themes and discussions such as how humans can behave themselves when their world is falling apart and what makes a person. I'm glad I read it!

[Erika]

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I gave it 3 stars. I enjoyed all the characters in the book, but Borne intrigued me the most. It was hard for me to get used to the writing style at first, but it made me even more intrigued about Borne over time. However, there are a few things I didn't like about this book.

(view spoiler)[I didn't like it when the plot dragged during the time Rachel was separated from Borne. This part bored me. There were also aspects that confused me. First, I did like the Magician and thought she was supportive in helping Rachel and Wick defeat Mord. However, I didn't understand her character in reference to Wick's letter. How would it even be possible for Wick to transfer Rachel's memories into the Magician? Why would Wick even want to do this? This didn't make sense to me. Second, Wick's letter made me draw the conclusion that Rachel wasn't human and that she as manufactured by the Company and made into a robot. Did anyone else get this impression? Did I draw the right conclusion, or am I missing something here? Also, the ending completely threw me. It surprised me that Rachel found Borne again. It seemed like Rachel was just going to live her interactions with Borne over again. This ending didn't make sense to me either. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, I did enjoy this book, but I didn't enjoy it enough to reread it. I'm also hesitant to read any other work by this author.

[Shelby M.]

I finally finished it last night. I loved the first half of the book, but the second half dragged for me. I found myself not wanting to pick it up. Borne was definitely my favorite part of the story.

I also thought there were some interesting themes related to parenting/raising.