BOOK REVIEW - THE VANISHED BIRDS BY SIMON JIMENEZ (SPOILER FREE)!

Welcome back, Book Fiends!
I hope you enjoy my book review of Simon Jimenez debut novel, The Vanished Birds, the very first book review featured on my channel about books and all things book adjacent! Enjoy! I loved this book. It kicked me in the heart and then helped me back up. Looking forward to owning a physical copy later this month!
Stay Wicked
N.
Video References:
Simon Jimenez
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Patreon: / wickedgoodbooks
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Artwork by roezellart ( / roezellart )
Music by Blue Wednesday feat. Shopan - Murmuration ©
Blue Wednesday - Into the Wind ©
(Permission for use granted by the artist)
Check out more of their music here:
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* My apologies for the drop in quality in this one, ya'll! Still figuring out the new camera. Also, I'm sorry for the jarring jump in the beginning... had to cut around audio of me hiccuping for five minutes straight. Loved that journey.*
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[@CosmicLovee]

Wonderful review Nick! I’d love to see more of these 🖤

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Thanks, Rebekah! More to come before the end of the month! I'm glad you enjoyed the review though!

[@BookswithBrittany]

Even more excited to get to this now! 🙌🏻

[@WickedGoodBooks]

I think you will really love it. It gave me such Starless Sea but sci-fi vibes, not in the plot, but in how it was written and how the narrative was strung together.

[@robinkotow3033]

I hadn’t heard of this book until you told me about it. I CANNOT wait to read it after this amazing review!!!

[@WickedGoodBooks]

This book was wonderful. I didn’t want it to end, honestly. Thank you for your support on the channel! The ladies over at Conquered Books did a wonderful review of it too. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIKscmmmpc6indk

[@Bookborn]

Sounds interesting! I need some more sci-fi. Maybe I"ll have time to get to this this year...but who am I kidding, I'm already overbooked.

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Me, everyday someone says HEY! Look at this book! Lol. This book was great though and I love that it’s a standalone.

[@emilywalker1885]

Added it to my library hold list!! Excited to read it. I’m on a big SciFi kick right now.

[@WickedGoodBooks]

It’s a beautiful book! The audiobook was great too!

[@jessicahoffman2021]

Okay you definitely hooked me👌

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Let me know when you start! You were the person I mentioned in the video! ☺️

[@jessicahoffman2021]

Yay!

[@blacknbluecollarreader]

I absolutely love this author!!!

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Same here! His new book is excellent.

[@blacknbluecollarreader]

@@WickedGoodBooks The Spear Cuts Etc. was the best book I've read this year!! I'm doing a reread and a read-a-long discussion on it with a bunch of people on the Tube and Discord. People call Elric "Heavy Metal" Fantasy......The Spear Cuts is "Psychedelic Rock Fantasy". The shifts in perspective, the melodic flow of the writing......ugh, so good. lol

[@duffy3542]

Haha, the hiccups fiasco! This was really good and in-depth for a spoiler free review - it was so good! I really like the sound of it. Im really in the mood for sci fi. and when you were describing the vibe, it sounds so up my street.

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Let me know when you check it out! I can’t wait to have a copy in my hands at the end of the month! And yeah... editing around my hiccups was actual hell on Earth.

[@adindap6318]

I absolutely LOVED the Vanished Birds and I'm glad to see people talk about it on KZbin! Agree so much, I also loved the humane approach of science fiction that the book went with. Judging by your bookshelf, you read a lot of SFF, so if you haven't I highly recommend you to pick up Jade City by Fonda Lee, the first book in the Green Bone Saga series! It's pitched as the Godfather with magic and kung fu and it's also one of my favorite books :)

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Hey! Thanks for tuning in and welcome, Book Fiend! I've heard great things about Lee's work, though I'm not real big on urban fantasy. Still, I may check it out sometime. Vanished Birds is such a wonderful gem and I just want to buy it every time I see it in the store and sneak it into peoples/friends booksehlves and TBR stacks. I have the paperback but I've been debating getting the hardcover too, I liked it that much. Who was your favorite character?

[@adindap6318]

​@@WickedGoodBooks I read the Vanished Birds on Kindle and would love my own physical copy too if I could! My favorite character was actually Sartoris, I enjoyed his epistolary chapter and all the things he did to bond with the crew really endeared him to me. I also really enjoyed reading Nia and Ahro (and of course, I cried so hard over them, I loved how you related their relationship with your own experience as a parent). This book definitely deserves so much more hype. Even though Jade City is set in a semi-modern city, I feel like the 'urban fantasy' label really doesn't do it justice. The scope of the story is actually large, and becomes even more epic in the second book as the world in the story grows. At the same time it's also highly intimate and character driven as it is also a family saga - the family dynamics are so nuanced and complex, I truly can't recommend it enough!

[@WickedGoodBooks]

@@adindap6318 That does sound more appealing! I’ll have to add it to my November TBR. Sci/fantasy is my favorite sub genre so anything that orbits it is always welcome on my to be read! Sartonis! I loved his POV. Nia and Ahro though. Really struck home for me in a lot of unexpected ways.

[@ShipwreckedLibrary]

Sorry I'm so distracted by how cute that little drawing of your family is 😭 I've had this book on my radar for a while, but you've definitely sold me on it. It's such a shame how books that have a slightly floral or witty prose get shelved as literary when they dip into other genres. People will miss such good books that way. Gosh the cover is gorgeous too LOL

[@WickedGoodBooks]

Right !? I’ll never understand how they decide what’s contemporary and what’s not. And thanks! My wife had it commissioned for me for Christmas! It’s all of us in a Studio Ghibli art style and I love it with all of my person. 🖤