emma

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emma is Currently Reading

emma is currently reading

The Maiden and Her Monster

by Maddie Martinez (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, sapphic-read

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May 19, 2026 07:48PM

emma is currently reading

Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3)

by Jeff Vandermeer (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: eco-fiction, favorite-sff, 2025-five-stars, currently-reading

Reading for the 4th time

read in October 2024

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emma said: " jeff vandermeer, i'm gonna smooch you on the mouth (my condolences to ann). i know that i'm a chronic re-reader, but even for me it's impressive that i have now read this book three times within the past year and only love it more every time i return jeff vandermeer, i'm gonna smooch you on the mouth (my condolences to ann). i know that i'm a chronic re-reader, but even for me it's impressive that i have now read this book three times within the past year and only love it more every time i return to it.

original review (2024):

I do 100% understand reviews that are frustrated with Acceptance and the way that it staunchly refuses to clarify any of the major questions that have been building across the Southern Reach trilogy. But I also have to say that for a certain kind of reader, having this book be just as convoluted and confusing and ambiguous as the books that came before it was the *perfect* choice.

At face value, Acceptance takes the reader on a journey told in two times: in the months leading up to the Area X border first coming down, and in the (days? months? years?) following the ending of Authority. In typical VanderMeer fashion, both of these timelines sort of circle around the questions at the series’s core—where did Area X come from? How did this all start? Where do you actually go when you cross the border?—while always remaining more interested in the interactions between its characters than in anything else.

And this is where this series really works best for me. I adored Saul, the lighthouse keeper that we follow in the pre-Area X depiction of the Forgotten Coast. And I also really loved some of the characters that we follow in the “present-day” timeline (but I won’t say who! lest I divulge some unintentional spoilers). There’s something so melancholy and tender and deeply human about this incredibly bizarre and alien world, and that’s really what keeps me coming back to these books. Relatedly, I recently saw this reddit post (don’t judge me pls) about the role that sweetness and gentleness play in the series, so I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.

(Also the ending is just so incredibly perfect! Jeff VanderMeer keeps doing this thing where his books lose me a little in the middle but then reel me back in at the end with the most beautifully written and heartbreakingly philosophical conclusions.) ...more "

progress:

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"life when i'm rereading the southern reach is like that fuckass tiktok comment sticker of the little slimy pink guy surrounded by rainbows and sparkles" — May 18, 2026 07:19PM

Sep 15, 2025 06:01PM · see review