Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
Rating – 5 out of 5
Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the last in the Southern Reach Trilogy, gives answers to some of the questions that we have been wondering. It follows what happens inside the Southern Reach after the surprise ending of Authority, as well as following other timelines that led up to the beginning of the mysterious phenomenon. As we get deeper into the details of what lies behind the shimmer, we learn that answers are not as clear as we would like. In fact, the only thing left, might be questions.
Catch up on my reviews of Annihilation and Authority, the first two books in this series 🙂
Favorite Quotes
“You could know the what of something forever and never discover the why.”
– Jeff VanderMeer, Acceptance
Why I liked Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
My life right now is what did I just read – Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer addition
— Kate Schiffman (@KTBoundary1) June 1, 2018
To be fair, I loved these books. I couldn’t put them down, I would rant about them for days, I almost read them consecutively, which is a feat for me since I usually start a series and then slowly over a while read through it. BUT these books were awful and gave no answers and I wanted to scream by the end. Good art? Yes. Most frustrating series? YES. There were no answers, only more questions. Even the things that we did get more clarity on were not satisfying, as the bigger question of what is happening, and who is causing it is not addressed. I have read other reviews that suggest that VanderMeer was only interested in showing the horror found in the human experience of this place, so as to be more impactful, but damn is that dissatisfying to me!
Acceptance was the most graphic and horrifying of the three in the series, by far. Just when you thought everything was normal, and you were lulled into a false sense of security a character would casually mention something incredibly horrifying as if it were as normal as eating breakfast. Some of the visuals of just horrifying bodily harm will stay with me for a while. This book is not for the faint of heart, nor anyone who has issues with bodies and how gross they can be.
So, I want you all to read these books and then maybe we can all get together in a field and yell about it for a while? Cool? Good. Let me know when you’re finished.
One last thought –
— Kate Schiffman (@KTBoundary1) June 1, 2018
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