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.