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

December 31, 2024 by Paige Leave a Comment

Rating: 6.5/10

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I was sent a copy of Acceptance in exchange for an honest review.

This is the final book in the original trilogy and I think my second favourite after the first book. Acceptance doesn’t give answers but does give a little bit more context to the possible creation of Area X and a bit more of a look at Area X in the present day.

It’s told through a series of PoVs, from Saul the lighthouse keeper before Area X existed to Ghost Bird and Control after they’ve entered Area X. I think for me Saul was the most interesting part, we know from the other books that he is important to Area X and Acceptance helps give a bit more of an idea as to how. We’re also introduced more to the S&S Brigade and they seem to be doing weird things but it also feels like they’re onto something because we know from other books that the lighthouse is important.

In all honesty this book doesn’t really *go* anywhere. Like it’s predecessors it kind of meanders its way around Area X with things happening occasionally, before it eventually devolves into the super weird. Vandermeer definitely hints at what may be going on, and every time I thought I had something figured out it was never confirmed, I never got that ‘aha’ moment. So by the end I’d enjoyed the ride but was no wiser as to what Area X is.

These have arguably been the hardest reviews I’ve ever had to write. I enjoyed my time in the Southern Reach, but I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what went on in he last three books.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction Tagged With: 4th Estate, Acceptance, Jeff VanderMeer

About Paige

Paige started book blogging 7 years ago and never looked back. She started out in YA and has since moved on to Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror, although it’s rare for her to read something she doesn’t enjoy! Paige is chronically out of shelf-space but that doesn’t stop her buying books. She is an avid gamer when she isn’t reading.

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