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laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Beautiful, devastating, and brilliant. The Vanished Birds has a lot that I love: strong character development, an interesting multi-POV structure, and a clear anti-capitalist spirit. This does not read like a debut novel; I can't wait to read more from Simon Jimenez.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Colonisation
teaxmillions's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse
kierstyn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
very slow paced.
this book had soo much potential to create incredible worlds out there in space. this entire book is about jumping around to other planets. what are these planets like? what are the animals like? are the people humans? any different kinds of flora/fauna than earth? instead we get taken to different worlds and all we are told is "this one has an ocean. this one has two red suns." maybe it wasn't the point of the book, but I thought it would have made the world building so much cooler.
there were some paragraphs that could have been cut out from this book and we still would have gotten the same understanding. it does drag in some places more than it needs to. and I think the plot could have gone a lot deeper. I mean the whole middle of the book is just them waiting around...
also I hate nurse lol. love sartoris
this book had soo much potential to create incredible worlds out there in space. this entire book is about jumping around to other planets. what are these planets like? what are the animals like? are the people humans? any different kinds of flora/fauna than earth? instead we get taken to different worlds and all we are told is "this one has an ocean. this one has two red suns." maybe it wasn't the point of the book, but I thought it would have made the world building so much cooler.
there were some paragraphs that could have been cut out from this book and we still would have gotten the same understanding. it does drag in some places more than it needs to. and I think the plot could have gone a lot deeper. I mean the whole middle of the book is just them waiting around...
also I hate nurse lol. love sartoris
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Gun violence
Moderate: Death
srm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Medical content, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
library_of_wonder's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Medical trauma
Minor: Emotional abuse
quinnjuliac's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was incredible. Sweeping story of finding nonbiological family and the ties that bind us, in a dysphoric future where the earth has been obliterated by climate change and misuse, and other worlds are created and then colonized by capitalism. Really beautiful, highly recommend. The first half seems to be more about the dysphoric world created by the author and traveling through it, and the second half is really about relationships and the love we find and lose, and how worth it these losses are.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation
korttipakka's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
kp_writ's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The kind of book that makes you feel like you accomplished something by finishing. And by that I mean it was dreadfully slow, and I had to work hard to keep my interest and understand the perspective shifts (that were confusing whether they happened chapter by chapter or paragraph by paragraph or towards the end even sentence by sentence). I'm very glad to have read it, and I think it's a book I may return to eventually for a reread, but it is not an easy read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Suicide attempt
20sidedbi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Beautiful intricate and intense. A little hard for me to follow as an audiobook, but still good. This book has a hard ending. Not happy, but not all bad. Just hard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Violence and Murder
gladiolus17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
(Listened on audiobook, sorry for any misspellings)
Lovely, subtle writing. Each chapter was like a short story, each with their own arc and a message to tell. I found myself mulling over each chapter after they ended and thinking about them long after I finished reading.
As the story went on, I found that some of the plot points weren’t foreshadowed, and I’m not sure if that was because I missed it in the audiobook, or if there really was no foreshadowing or development here. To be specific: I did not understand why Fumiko chose to study the Jaunt, why the Allied Space destroyed her research lab (in particular how Fumiko broke contract), why Vela betrayed Nia, and what was the Kind One who helped Ahrow, whether it be a figment of his imagination, or part of the afterlife. I understand that Oden implied that Allied Space was shitty, but I didn’t glean from anything that they would be a hint on why they would destroy Fumiko’s research lab. Because these were left unsolved, I felt confused rather than satisfied like I had early in the book.
Lovely, subtle writing. Each chapter was like a short story, each with their own arc and a message to tell. I found myself mulling over each chapter after they ended and thinking about them long after I finished reading.
As the story went on, I found that some of the plot points weren’t foreshadowed, and I’m not sure if that was because I missed it in the audiobook, or if there really was no foreshadowing or development here. To be specific: I did not understand why Fumiko chose to study the Jaunt, why the Allied Space destroyed her research lab (in particular how Fumiko broke contract), why Vela betrayed Nia, and what was the Kind One who helped Ahrow, whether it be a figment of his imagination, or part of the afterlife. I understand that Oden implied that Allied Space was shitty, but I didn’t glean from anything that they would be a hint on why they would destroy Fumiko’s research lab. Because these were left unsolved, I felt confused rather than satisfied like I had early in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence