Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance (Southern Reach Trilogy, #3)

by Jeff VanderMeer

‘Pure reading pleasure’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'Genuinely potent and dream-haunting writing’ GUARDIAN

‘Powerful and echoing’ NEW STATESMAN

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

With an introduction by Helen MacDonald

Area X has rebuffed expedition after expedition for decades, refusing to reveal its secrets. As it expands alarmingly, the Southern Reach agency tasked with its investigation has collapsed in confusion. Now, one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may yet hold vital answers. How was Area X created, and why? Can it be stopped?

In this climactic volume of the Southern Reach trilogy, reality mutates and mysteries resolve, but now that so many questions have answers, the consequences are no less profound – or terrifying.

'Pure reading pleasure' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

‘Arresting, unsettling, and unforgettable’ NEW YORKER

'Contemporary masterpieces and career-defining novels' GUARDIAN

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

2 of 5 stars

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Acceptance is the final instalment of the Southern Reach trilogy. It is winter in Area X and a new team is about to embark on a new expedition. The plan is to press deeper into the area and explore unexplored terrain. Will they finally find out the secrets behind Area X? What will Southern Reach do? And what is with this lighthouse?

Yet once again I am stuck trying to work out just what to say about this book, much like the other two novels in the series. I really don’t know what I can say without giving spoilers but I also have committed myself to write some kind of review with everything I read. Area X is a mysterious ecosystem; it is an environment that is untouched or corrupted by humans and yet Southern Reach is determined to discover the secrets behind this mystery.

Within Annihilation the readers are introduced to Area X and we are allowed to explore this new world, but there were so many questions being raised without many answers given. I loved this about Annihilation; I was thrilled by everything in this novel and I knew I had to read the series to find out the answers. Authority explored the mystery behind the governing organisation Southern Reach; while I didn’t enjoy the book as much I was interested in find out more about bureaucracy.

After both Annihilation and Authority, there were still a lot of questions to be answered and Acceptance felt more like a novel to tie everything up. There is a new expedition and there is still some excitement to be found in the final instalment, but for me it was a letdown. I got my answers, but I wasn’t satisfied and in the end I just felt like everything wrapped up too neatly.

The Southern Reach trilogy is a thrilling science fiction series that plays with ideas of environment and bureaucracy. The world that Jeff VanderMeer has created is immersive and wonderfully crafted. These books are short and don’t take long to read. While I had my issues here, I am still glad to have worked my way through this trilogy and am interested in trying to more of Jeff VanderMeer’s novels.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2015/02/22/acceptance-by-jeff-vandermeer/

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 January, 2015: Finished reading
  • 14 January, 2015: Reviewed