cibertina reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Tense ecological mystery but in the end, no fun.
351 pages
English language
Published April 16, 2021
3 stars
(21 reviews)
Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist and the daughter of an Argentine industrialist. By taking the hummingbird from the storage unit, Jane sets in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control.
Soon, Jane and her family are in danger, with few allies to help her make sense of the true scope of the peril. Is the only way to safety to follow in Silvina’s footsteps? Is it too late to stop? As she desperately seeks answers about why Silvina contacted her, time is running out—for her and possibly for the world.
Mollarom reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I enjoy reading Mr. VanderMeer's books. I found the story in Hummingbird Salamander to be more relatable than those in the Southern Reach trilogy. My 2-star rating for this book is very much a reaction to how it ended. Without going into too much detail, the protagonist loses everything in her pursuit of a mystery, and the payoff isn't proportional to the sacrifice needed to achieve it.
TLDR, enjoyable journey, disappointing destination.
markm reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I am a VanderMeer fan. That said, his half-sentence ambiguous style can seem like a drag on an otherwise typical mystery thriller, and I would have quit reading this if I wasn't aware of the way JV's stories go. Things pick up in the middle. Also, since VanderMeer's concerns are my own (I would say our own if I didn't occasionally turn on the TV) I was ultimately very satisfied with the whole.
V171 reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Rambling, nonsensical, and pointless. I have so much I could say about why I think this was a failure of a story, but it's not worth the effort. Better than Dead Astronauts though!
Erin reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Overall, I enjoyed this read. I really like VanderMeer’s writing, the way he has of phrasing a thought or feeling. That goes a long way for me, so I rated this highly in large part because of that.
I think the plot and pacing struggled. Especially some moments at the end. The convenience of Langer being alive, finding her, and Jack finding her as well and shooting Langer just in time. Felt kind of silly and basic after the rest of the book. And the idea that Silvina created this “ark” and magic elixir pushed believability for me. Again, it felt silly compared to the rest of the book.
It is a bit misleading to call this a thriller. It has its action-y, tense moments, but it’s largely introspective and quiet. That works perfectly for me, but would be a letdown if you wanted something else.
I enjoyed the themes …
Overall, I enjoyed this read. I really like VanderMeer’s writing, the way he has of phrasing a thought or feeling. That goes a long way for me, so I rated this highly in large part because of that.
I think the plot and pacing struggled. Especially some moments at the end. The convenience of Langer being alive, finding her, and Jack finding her as well and shooting Langer just in time. Felt kind of silly and basic after the rest of the book. And the idea that Silvina created this “ark” and magic elixir pushed believability for me. Again, it felt silly compared to the rest of the book.
It is a bit misleading to call this a thriller. It has its action-y, tense moments, but it’s largely introspective and quiet. That works perfectly for me, but would be a letdown if you wanted something else.
I enjoyed the themes of this book, though. We are at this moment of existential crisis with climate change and yet we continue on like everything will be fine. That our minor tweaks will be good enough, if we do even that. Just steadily moving toward that cliff, ready to fall off to our doom. I actually did not find this book too preachy, but I think others might. I found Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver more of the too didactic type. This book reminded me a LOT of Zazen by Vanessa Veselka, which I also really enjoyed and didn’t find too preachy.
I love that ultimately Silvina was trying to save the world through compassionate means, though I didn’t need as many answers as the end gave me. I just love the hope of it, the attempt to integrate more with the Earth in harmony.
Favorite quotes:
Next year, there would be no conference. A few years later, businesses hawking wares would have changed. The old ones washed away by the shock of realization: the physical laws of the universe didn’t give a fuck about them. Wouldn’t protect them just because they existed and sold things.
Delusional. Naïve. Unworkable. Dangerous. That is what the enemy called the necessities for survival. For flourishing.
Salagubang reviewed Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer
Review of 'Hummingbird Salamander' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
Tough to get through unfortunately.
