Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

13 reviews

cafeconrachel's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

themis_biblos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.5

 There is a limit to thinking about even a small piece of something monumental. You still see the shadow of the whole rearing up behind you, and you become lost in your thoughts in part from the panic of realizing the size of that imagined leviathan.
 

 I ordered the beautiful edition with the boar on the cover and was delivered this neon pink abomination. That should be a crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer and Mental illness

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

Annihilation starts off with a series of questions, but its ending does not answer them to incredible effect. The plot centres around an expedition of four scientists who are the twelfth expedition to a place called Area X, where a strange historical event has led to the complete removal of human civilization. What this "human civilization" is replaced with, and what the four uncover about each other, tells a harrowing tale about what it means to be human. 

I was recommended this by a friend who was into biology, and I can definitely say it was a worthy recommendation! I read it all in a handful of sittings over the course of twenty-four hours and this was because I could not put it down. Each revelation is followed by something even more tense and terrifying, and the ending leaves so much unanswered...leading nicely into a second and third book. An amazing read, all in all!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Cursing and Suicide

One of the characters uses hypnosis on the others, including a (ineffectual) command to kill themselves.

ashleybakerwrites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-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? No

4.25

It was pretty good! Definitely unlike any book I've ever read. I thought the writing was very interestingly technical. I can say it probably won't work for everyone- but if you settle in for the atmosphere rather than the character development- you'll have a good time. The stuff was spooky- and I'd recc this to all my sciencey/foragey friends. I feel like they'd get a kick out of this. May return to the series later if I keep thinking about this like I am now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

bibliosexual's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer

sir_willyam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Psychological horror juxtaposed next to beautiful natural scenery, Annihilation focuses on the willfulness behind self-destruction, and the resistance of healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

Further warning for descriptions of drowning, and a very brief mention of child-on-child sexual abuse.

kwoolfre's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

👁️👁️ jeff was on something when he wrote this 

I feel like the narrator is divisive for readers and I actually don't care. If you don't like her, kys. They are simply too weak for her. Now, the focus on her sexuality from the author? Strange choice. But the biologist is a god to me. 
Also, the movie absolutely butchered this book. It kinda makes me mad but then again, there's no way they could've done it justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror and Grief

Minor: Cancer

the_great_tumbleweed's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

This is definitely the spookiest scifi I've read - the mysteriousness and hostility of the setting and its impact on the characters is so pleasingly creepy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Suicide, and Murder