By: Jeff VandermeerPlot: Second book in the Southern Reach trilogy. This book follows a new character, John or Control, as he becomes the new director at the Southern Reach and tries to figure out what the h is going on. Spoiler alert: he doesn't.
Thoughts: I wasn't sure that I wanted to read this second book, because I had read a small summery online and saw that the biologist wasn't even mentioned. Then my husband pointed out that, that didn't mean she wasn't in it so I decided to give it a go. I was really liking this book at first! I felt like there were some answers right from the beginning! Then the more I read, the less I liked it. I did not like John/Control! He was such a wimp. Whenever he was questioning "Ghost Bird", he keeps second guessing himself and thinking about what a horrible job he's doing. Although, he was terrible and never asked any good questions! She'd say something crazy and he wouldn't even ask her about it! Also, the way Grace just walked all over him and he didn't do anything about it bugged me. He was just a wimp!
There was also way too much backstory on this horrible character. I got so sick of hearing about his dad and grandpa and horrible mother. I don't care about your dad's chickens! I did like learning more about the director and all the weird things going on in her office. Her backstory sounded like it would have been far more interesting then John/Control's.
The first book, I just wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next and this book, I just didn't want to keep reading. I read the first one in two days and this one took me like... a lot longer then that. Nothing cool was happening and I wished John/Control would just go into Area X to spice things up. I mean every once in a while something would actually be happening but those moments were too few and far between. At the end it started picking up but even the ending was drug out! Now the question is, do I read the last one?
Favorite Quotes: "Not a lot of it made much sense or would be news; he was just pushing words around to have something to say."
Rating: 2/5 It was alright. Definitely not as good as the first book.