Reviews

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

dlpark337's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

nukehavoc's review against another edition

4.0

A short, fun (if weird mysterious other worlds are your idea of fun ... and they are for me) book in the vein of LOST. Read it over two days at the Jersey Shore, which provided an excellent backdrop.

learningtoreadagain's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bmacenlightened's review against another edition

3.0

So this was an odd book for me, and I read it blisteringly fast. Part of that has to do with the fact that there's not a whole lot of book there to begin with. I read it in about an hour and a half today and I enjoyed it greatly. I liked the descriptions and the dialogue and whatnot, and it almost felt like it read itself. I just wish there were more of it, and when you take into account that I wasn't a huge fan of all the flashbacks and those were a significant portion of the story I was left with basically a cool novella about an awesomely weird place with awesomely weird stuff. So yeah, not too bad, but I wanted more and I guess I'll have to read the sequels for that.

csdaley's review against another edition

5.0

I don't even know where to begin when describing this book. Plus, I am not sure I want to give any of it away. This book is a riddle wrapped up in a mystery. It is beautiful and horrific. I finished it and immediately wondered if it would read differently when all three books are out. There are so many layers to this book that I am fairly sure it will be a different book on a reread. It has the best first page of a novel since Stephen King's The Gunslinger. If you can read the first page and not want to go on then this book is probably not for you. My favorite book of the year so far.

ayaflorence's review against another edition

mysterious

1.75

em_finity's review against another edition

2.0

The movie was meh but even that was better than this.

sophiegrll's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

samanthampg's review against another edition

3.0

A thought provoking short read with a lot of questions and not a lot of answers

I didn't find the lack of a definitive answer very off putting because I feel like that is the nature of this story and it's setting. A literary fiction novel stuffed with haunting landscapes of the unknown, with characters stripped of anything besides the services they can provide and a main character who is closed off with all those around her including the reader. All of this does not make for clear defined answers by the end.

I enjoyed this short work, I thought the concept was interesting. I don't think I would read any further into the Southern Reach Trilogy but that's because literary fiction novels aren't usually my go-to genre.

mythmagicsteel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0