Hummingbird Salamander

I love Jeff Vandermeer’s novels. Why? Because the worlds he creates are at once both foreign and recognizable. You instantly are plunged into a murky web, unsure exactly what has transpired. Here, in Hummingbird Salamander the reader is issued into a world just a bit beyond our present day. Vandermeer addresses his usual themes of climate change, pollution, animal extinction, pandemics, and gradual decline of the environment. The protagonist of Hummingbird Salamander is Jane Smith, a security consultant, six feet tall, 230 lbs, a former wrestler/ weightlifter, who receives a mysterious missive from Silvinia, a woman known as an Argentinian eco- terrorist. You aren’t really sure what’s going on, but you are right in the thick of it while it happens, inhaling the smoke along with Jane, as the world burns. This is a wild ride of a mystery, sure to thrill Vandermeer’s many fans.

“Jane Smith”, an unnamed security consultant, becomes embroiled in turmoil when a taxidermied hummingbird is sent to her by a mysterious stranger. This launches her into an elaborate conspiracy and sets her on a dangerous path to discover a taxidermied salamander. What is she willing to risk to find the answers? Is it worth it?

I haven’t read any other books by Jeff VanderMeer, but when I read the premise of Hummingbird Salamander, I was intrigued. Thrillers and suspense books are my go-to, and I was very interested in the endangered species aspect of the narrative. And overall, the book was very interesting, suspenseful, and worth the read, but I think there are a few things worth noting.

“Jane”, the MC, is neither a likeable nor a reliable narrator. She is very cryptic, and jumps fall over the place in her narration. This makes portions of the book hard to follow along with and made the novel very confusing at times. One of my biggest personal pet-peeves is unlikeable narrators, and “Jane” fits the bill. She implodes her whole life unnecessarily, and every time I don’t think she can get worse, she does.

The book is also written in a stream of consciousness narration style. I have read books like this before, so this didn’t bother me – I actually really enjoyed it. But I know that this style will not be everyone’s cup of tea. This is a thriller, but is also not your typical thriller. There is no set time period or location given, and there is a number of science fiction/dystopian vibes. All of this creates a different thriller than most other thrillers marketed today.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes unlikable narrators, environmentalism, and stream of consciousness narration – this book will not disappoint! 3.75 stars.

I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley and Blackstone Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review.

Great audiobook! Great writing gave this an enjoyable literary voice. Mixing thriller, sci-fi, climate change, and family drama is a big feat. that I think works quite well with the somewhat-anonymous MC. Definitely a book and approach that will be unexpected for many readers but never too dull to ignore.

Eco-thriller is not a genre I run to, but damn, this was fantastic. Thought-swirling and mind-bending in just the right way. I recommend this to everyone I meet.

While this was my first foray into the weird fiction world of Jeff VanderMeer, Hummingbird Salamander did not scare me off. While I spent a fair amount of the novel basically clueless as to what was going on, I also couldn't turn the book off. After receiving a weird note and piece of taxidermy for a known ecoterrorist, security consultant "Jane Smith," goes on an unsanctioned mission to follow Silvina's footsteps and get to the bottom of the mystery of her death and the rare hummingbird she's been given. Lisa Flanagan's narration of Jane's race through clues held the perfect tension to keep a reader literally plowing forward through the muck with Jane. You may not have any idea what's actually going on till the absolute very end, but you'll be too sucked in to care about being confused. Apparently this embodies VanderMeer's "weird fiction" at its finest and I'm certainly ready for another does of crazy.

One day the sun will expand and engulf the Earth.
Until this day, we have to live with the knowledge that we disappointed Jeff.
Whatever shall we do?
This is a great story of confusion, mental illness, desperation, and fear. Fear for the future, for humanity, for humans in general and specific. We are all trash, especially you reading this right now, you are trash and your face is trash. You should feel bad for existing and your children are particularly ugly and uncreative. If you don't have children, its because YOU are particularly ugly and uncreative.
I understand the point; pollution is bad and humans wrecked the environment and now we have to live (or die) with the consequences of our past decisions. Well, the decisions of humans past and our decisions to not fix things. This seems a fair criticism of humanity and capitalism.
The book is well written. I state that as fact because VanderMeer is a great writer. He gets words and how to use them, and I can't take that away from him.
The story is good. I like the parts that small misunderstandings lead to big consequences because life do be like that sometimes.
My gripe is the soliloquies about how bad humans are. One rant would be acceptable to show how the character processes information and interacts with the world; chapters' worth of ranting is a distraction and annoying.
I didn't say wrong, I said distracting and annoying.
I recommend this book for the writing quality and a fun plot with a meaningful and important message. Because even with the distractions and annoyingness of VanderMeer on his soapbox, he does write a good book.
**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer, narrated by Lisa Flanagan.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Audiobooks for a complimentary audio ARC for an honest review.

This was definitely a gripping thriller of a read. It was very thought-provoking on our role in the destruction of our environment and the solutions we can find to repair it.

The narration was excellent. She kept the suspense going until the very end.

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