"The Vanished Birds" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Come share your initial impressions of Vanished Birds! Please leave out specifics especially for things concerning plot, character growth or any changes that might occur in the narrative structure etc. beyond the first chapter. The full spoiler thread will be open in a few days!

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ child abuse, indentured servitude, torture, animal cruelty, medical experimentation, ecological disaster. (hide spoiler)]

[Cheryl]

Um. I thought I'd read this, but the content warnings are scaring me off.

[Silvana]

I hope I can start next week. Pretty excited over this one.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Cheryl, happy to talk to you about them if you'd like more context! This was not a "light" book but also not one that I thought used these things exploitatively. Feel free to message me if I can help!

[Yağız “Yaz”]

I love the way the book starts. It almost feels like a short story ends and a second one starts. And the prose is beautiful.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Yagiz wrote: "I love the way the book starts. It almost feels like a short story ends and a second one starts. And the prose is beautiful."

This! I loved the opening and the prose was a pleasant surprise.

[Amanda]

I'm three chapters in and totally captivated so far.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I went in blind and was very surprised (in a good way) with how this book started out and the different voices we see/hear.

[Mareike]

It was similar for me, Allison!

[Christopher]

I really enjoyed the opening story, but found the next few less exciting and have been finding myself having to force myself to read through a few pages here and there at about the 30% mark. I saw a lot of great reviews so I'm going to keep trying.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I finished it a few hours ago and it's a wonderful, and very sad, book. Bittersweet.

[Emmett]

I wasn't very into the idea of the book from the blurb; I don't think it sells the story very well... As such, I went in rather skeptical, but was actually quite impressed after the first chapter. Jimenez is a great writer, independent of the story. Definitely looking forward to his future novels

[Travis]

Christopher wrote: "I really enjoyed the opening story, but found the next few less exciting and have been finding myself having to force myself to read through a few pages here and there at about the 30% mark. I saw ..."

This makes it sound like a collection of short stories. Is that right? (Asking as someone who has lately had very little patience with short stories!)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I would not say so, no. They all intertwine, but there are different POVs that cover different points in time.

[Cheryl]

About 1/3 in. Enjoying it very much. Beautifully structured story-telling and world-building. All the Sense of Wonder and What If for which I read SF.

Poignancy, so far, but no nastiness. In fact, it seems that there are no 'bad guys' at all, actually.

[Cheryl]

Ok, further. If anyone is still on the fence about reading this due to content warnings, PM me. Fwiw, I'm persisting, still appreciating.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

glad to hear it, Cheryl!

[Travis]

Allison wrote: "I would not say so, no. They all intertwine, but there are different POVs that cover different points in time."

Thanks, Allison! I have the audio of this from the library and look forward to starting this weekend.

[Gabi]

I started as well. I have to get accustomed to the audiobook narrator who has the effect of a sleeping pill on me ^^'. I sped it up and hope that the story won't suffer cause of that.

I'm only at the very beginning, and I have a "Snow Queen" vibe so far.

[Travis]

What a fun setup that first chapter is! I'm hooked.

[Gabi]

Roughly half way in: I'm enjoying the very distinctive POVs a lot. It gives the story more depth.

[Meredith]

I read the first chapter and was really pulled into the story, lovely writing. Interested to see where this goes.

[Christopher]

I'm about halfway now, I feel like it's okay, but maybe more character driven than I might want? Like less about the science fiction (although definitely there) than just the relationships of the various characters. That's a totally fine thing! But just not wowing me so much.

[Hank, Hankenstein's Modster]

Another thumbs up for the beginning from me.

[Oleksandr]

Just started the book and it looks promising.

[Justin]

Me, too—I loved the beginning. Unfortunately, everything I loved about the beginning—what was brilliant and interesting about the story—ended in the beginning.

[Oleksandr]

Justin wrote: "Me, too—I loved the beginning. Unfortunately, everything I loved about the beginning—what was brilliant and interesting about the story—ended in the beginning."

I'm just about 1/3 and yes, after the initial chapter the story went in a way I haven't expected and a slight flavor of a soap opera brings my expectations down

[Silvana]

Only 5% and I am already in love. I hope I will stay that way until the end.

Somehow I started this book and thought this was fantasy. But then I checked the tag and the poll (which I voted on).

[Oleksandr]

Silvana wrote: "Somehow I started this book and thought this was fantasy. But then I checked the tag and the poll (which I voted on)."

A bit further on there are elements I'd consider fantasy, so you were partially correct

[Silvana]

Gabi wrote: "Roughly half way in: I'm enjoying the very distinctive POVs a lot. It gives the story more depth."

Fully agree. Also reached the halfway point.

[Anthony]

Finally started this last night and I’m happily very impressed by the quality of the writing itself, which is something I can’t always say about many of the group selections in the last year or so.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

this is definitely more literary than some of our recent picks!

[Oleksandr]

Yes, the beginning is very strong

[Anthony]

After three chapters, I’m continuing to be impressed by the crafted skill of the writing, the confidence exhibited in the world-building, and the emotionally-grounded character development.

[Kaa]

Same, Anthony. I just got the audiobook from the library and made it almost all the way to the end of the third chapter while I was doing chores today - ended up doing probably more than I would have otherwise just to keep listening. The prose is lovely and I really appreciate the focus on the characters.

[Grace]

I stumbled in the Spoilery thread and saw some intriguing feedback namely Gabi who seems to be the biggest Adrian Tchaikovsky fan around here say this is the best sci fi this year (next to doors of eden) so I’ve started reading it. :)

11% in I really like the flow and pace so far. I’m scrolling fast and trying not to read all your comments reading ahead of me.

[J.W.]

I have to say I didn't really understand it at first. It took me the first couple chapters to really start getting into the book. I am definitely enjoying it now, but there's a lot going on in it. It may require a re-read to fully understand.

[J.W.]

Okay so I grabbed this on audio after basically skimming through because I could feel it might be special enough to me to want to listen to. I’m not quite halfway in and I think I was right. I’m quite enjoying this book and glad I got it on audio because the narrator is great.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I thought the narrator did a good job too

[Tom]

I'm getting towards the end and finding that this is one of those books that I should have read without reading any comments or descriptions ahead of time. Too many people inadvertently commented on their feelings of the events at the end which gave me insights that I would rather have done without.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Ahh, bummer, Tom!

[Bonnie]

Impressed so far.

[Kaia]

I am getting an early start on this for the November group re-read, and I love it so far. The first chapter could have been its own complete story. The writing is very good, and I enjoy how the story is being told - similar to my enjoyment of the author’s The Spear Cuts Through Water, though I’m finding this one much easier to understand.

[DivaDiane]

That’s good news, Kaia. I just read all the first impressions above and still can’t believe I skipped this one 3 years ago! My hold at the library comes in soon, I’ll start it right away then.

[Mareike]

Oh, I look forward to reading your thoughts on this one, Diane!