Review: Acceptance (Southern Reach #3) by Jeff VanderMeer

 Summary from Goodreads:

It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it--the Southern Reach--has collapsed on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the answers they've been seeking. If they fail, the outer world is in peril.

Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X--what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X--and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound--or terrifying.

My Review:


What I Liked:

Audiobook. I checked out the whole series on audiobook and I believe it is the best way to consume the novels. The audiobooks made the series even more frightening/thrilling then the print editions.

Writing. The main reason, besides the strange plot, that I read the entire series (even with my confusion) was the writing style. Vandermeer writes strange and befuddling plots but he writes them in a beautiful/lyrical way that made me not want to put down any of his novels. 

Characters. The whole series was very character driven with the Biologist/Ghost Bird, Control, Gloria/The Director and many more strange characters. I enjoyed how the first two novels were from The Biologists and Control's point of view and the third one is told from the point of view of multiple characters.

Plot. Even though I struggled with aspects of the plot I still enjoyed how unique the series was. The experience reading all three novels was worth it because it was like nothing that I have read before. The third book is the one that explains a lot of the mysteries surrounding books one and two, and I did feel that it answered some of the questions. 

What I Disliked:

Plot/Confusion. I had the same trouble with the first two novels in the series, I felt that there was a lot left unexplained and plot holes. Or more likely I did not get the main point of the series. We received some answers with the POVS of various characters (The Director, the Light House keeper) but the ending did feel like it was left hanging open without a true conclusion. 

Despite some issues with the plot, I recommend checking out this series. It is beautifully written and the audiobooks are a thrilling experience.


My Rating:

4 Stars out of 5 Stars