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nns25_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
If you liked Annihilation, you'll like this book. Really cool concept, but I was disappointed by the ending, hence the rating
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
cassandra_catastrophe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Vomit
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sufferingsapph0's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
wildflowercrypt's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
i kept reading because i found the prose engaging and the atmosphere kinda cool, but this plot made very little sense, even for YA. the pages in the back refer to it as a “feminist Lord of the Flies” and i don’t know but that feels like overselling the story we do get, by a lot.
very little of importance happens in this story with only cursory explanations as to how or why. yeah, yeah, yeah,climate change! parasite! the next big misstep in the evolutionary process! but none of those things are explored in any kind of meaningful way; they serve as setting dressing, nothing more, and are almost immediately brushed over and moved past once revealed.
additional gripes w/ explicit spoilers:what the fuck was that random-ass cooler in the middle of the woods about? it never gets brought back up. why was it there, with a vial of a non-cure inside??? felt like a dropped plot line. additionally, throughout the story, we see Hetty struggle immensely with guilt for keeping secrets, breaking quarantine, bringing the gas back to the school, etc. etc. etc. yet apparently she also has zero issue abandoning the other girls to be mauled to death by the bear. yeah, ok, cause that makes sense. also, how did the research team even know quarantine had been broken in the first place? Hetty and Reese were never caught; it’s never addressed: the research team just Knows, somehow, magically, that quarantine was broken. Hetty also gives Reese very little fucking time to cope with the fate of her father— whether that’s really him or not, watching your girlfriend (?) kill the last remaining vestige of your dad is going to fucking hurt. ofc she needs time to process that, don’t be an ass. ugh.
very little of importance happens in this story with only cursory explanations as to how or why. yeah, yeah, yeah,
additional gripes w/ explicit spoilers:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Minor: Suicide
peanut_19's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Suicide
melusinedln's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
2.75 stars.
This book is disappointing and I don’t know why the publisher agreed to publish it as it is. When you reach the end, you’re left with even more questions than in the start, and the ending scene, like every other important scene in this book, has no impact at all. It felt like the author wanted a lazy open ending just to be able to make a 2nd book if this one sold well.
Also, the queer romance between 2 of the characters is underdeveloped despite being one of the main point used by the publisher to sell the book.
It’s generating a lot of frustration in me because the idea was really good, but it was so poorly executed. I had a nice time reading some parts of the book, and okay time reading most of them, and I was so frustrated when I reached the lazy ending.
This book is disappointing and I don’t know why the publisher agreed to publish it as it is. When you reach the end, you’re left with even more questions than in the start, and the ending scene, like every other important scene in this book, has no impact at all. It felt like the author wanted a lazy open ending just to be able to make a 2nd book if this one sold well.
Also, the queer romance between 2 of the characters is underdeveloped despite being one of the main point used by the publisher to sell the book.
It’s generating a lot of frustration in me because the idea was really good, but it was so poorly executed. I had a nice time reading some parts of the book, and okay time reading most of them, and I was so frustrated when I reached the lazy ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
wren_08's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death
kira20's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Honestly took forever to read. I kept going back to see if itd get better. I didn't connect with any of the characters or relationships. I finished it but just barely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
milesbian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
We 👏 support 👏 women's 👏 wrongs 👏
Jokes aside, this was an... interesting book. I just finished, so maybe I should let it settle a bit more better writing this, but eh.
First off, the obvious: the ending. The ending was... it just was. It definitely leaves you with questions, way too many questions, but I don't know. I didn't think it was absolutely horrible like other people claim. Seriously, based on what I'd heard, I was expecting the most dogshit writing I've ever seen lol. But I think maybe, for some people at least (and this is why I'm being vague and not marking this as spoilers, so that anybody that wants to read the book but is wary because of all the reviews lambasting the ending can see), you just need to go into it knowing you aren't going to get all the answers to all your questions. In fact, you won't be getting the answers to most of your questions. So just keep that in mind. And a bit more in regards to my own thoughts: there is so much we don't get to learn, and I know it feels more like the end to a chapter rather than the whole book, but personally, I think there's almost something admirable in that. It doesn't tell you what happens next, and I think that's what'll help this story stay with me: the questions, and the wondering.
Honestly, people complain so much about the ending, but I had way more of an issue with the beginning of the book. The book has a very rough start imo, the writing coming across somewhat juvenile and just a tad bit too edgy for my liking. I would go into more detail if I wasn't typing all of this up on my phone, but basically, I just really feel like the first few chapters could've used more editing than I think they actually got. Like, when I first started this book, I described it to my dad as a YA version of Annihilation (and yes, though I don't usually approve of the way some people use "YA" as shorthand for "bad," I did mean that in a disparaging way). I even considered DNFing it. But I'm glad I kept reading. It's not a perfect book, and the ending seems to be divisive, but overall, it was a decent read with an interesting premise. Whether it sticks the landing, honestly, is up to you; but for me, I do think this is a book I'll be thinking about for a while.
Jokes aside, this was an... interesting book. I just finished, so maybe I should let it settle a bit more better writing this, but eh.
First off, the obvious: the ending. The ending was... it just was. It definitely leaves you with questions, way too many questions, but I don't know. I didn't think it was absolutely horrible like other people claim. Seriously, based on what I'd heard, I was expecting the most dogshit writing I've ever seen lol. But I think maybe, for some people at least (and this is why I'm being vague and not marking this as spoilers, so that anybody that wants to read the book but is wary because of all the reviews lambasting the ending can see), you just need to go into it knowing you aren't going to get all the answers to all your questions. In fact, you won't be getting the answers to most of your questions. So just keep that in mind. And a bit more in regards to my own thoughts: there is so much we don't get to learn, and I know it feels more like the end to a chapter rather than the whole book, but personally, I think there's almost something admirable in that. It doesn't tell you what happens next, and I think that's what'll help this story stay with me: the questions, and the wondering.
Honestly, people complain so much about the ending, but I had way more of an issue with the beginning of the book. The book has a very rough start imo, the writing coming across somewhat juvenile and just a tad bit too edgy for my liking. I would go into more detail if I wasn't typing all of this up on my phone, but basically, I just really feel like the first few chapters could've used more editing than I think they actually got. Like, when I first started this book, I described it to my dad as a YA version of Annihilation (and yes, though I don't usually approve of the way some people use "YA" as shorthand for "bad," I did mean that in a disparaging way). I even considered DNFing it. But I'm glad I kept reading. It's not a perfect book, and the ending seems to be divisive, but overall, it was a decent read with an interesting premise. Whether it sticks the landing, honestly, is up to you; but for me, I do think this is a book I'll be thinking about for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
leontyna's review against another edition
I couldn't fully process what was going on in the audiobook form and I'm not really invested in any plot point so far. Also some scenes were too full of body horror/gore for me personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore