Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

24 reviews

irinalast's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

An analytical depart from reality; great expression of inner thoughts and feelings as it becomes clear that narrator’s perception is not fully reliable. The complicated present shifts as the narrator reveals pieces of her past, and how okay she is with the ominous future her experiences hint at. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

pearlpool's review against another edition

4.0

GORGEOUS WRITING!!!!!!!!! rly rly transports you into the world :] god i love it when women have issues and i LOVE commentary on ways of knowing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, and Gore

cviii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

maggies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

My goodness. For me, this was horror all the way through, even the parts where I lost the thread and had to backtrack and re-read to find my place again. From the beginning, I never shook off the crawling sense of dread on my skin, the back of my neck, the pit of my stomach. For such a short novel it is slow, ruminating and contemplating the past, present, and future. The few action scenes as well were focused on the narrator’s thought process such that it was difficult to tell what action had actually taken place. Considering my current mood, I enjoyed the challenge of this book, but I might not have enjoyed it at another time, and I am not sure that I will continue the series or see the film adaptation. I really had to work hard to build a mental picture of Area X based on the biologist’s descriptions, almost as though I was afflicted with some aphantasia specific to Annihilation, as I don’t recall experiencing that before. Hopefully it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that this is probably not going to be a favorite for people who need reliable, likable narrators or unambiguous endings. On the other hand, I usually gravitate towards stories with those characteristics, and I still found this one thoroughly engrossing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m very conflicted with this book.

On one hand, the story is well paced and well written (in parts). Area X is described well enough to keep me interested while also maintaining an air of mystery. The tower is suitably creepy, as are the incidents mentioned to have happened to the previous explorers.

But at the same time I don’t give a shit about anything that happens. I think it’s a problem with the Biologist. She’s so blah and wishy washy that I really don’t care about her, the same goes for the Surveyor. The Psychologist is the most interesting and yet she doesn’t share anything. 

We have no answers at the end of the book, which left it feeling unfulfilling and disappointing. If we did get any answers they are hidden in bloated writing and hard to distinguish. The ending is pretty good, I liked the tragedy of it, the final line in particular is haunting. It’s just a shame that the rest didn’t live up to the hype. If the Biologist had any personality I think things may have been different.

I’m not interested in the sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Cancer, and Terminal illness

inka_z's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder and Violence

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

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

shirku's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I have yet to read another book so good at conveying mysterious unexplainable creatures and environments the way Annihilation does.  A great trip the whole way through and a totally great standalone book if you don't want to read the sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gaslighting

lettigirl101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

I really don’t know what to think of this book. It is complex. Read it and you’ll know what I mean.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual content

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

An incredibly dense read, but in a good way- it is concise and every sentence has a reason for being where it is. Very layered and very human. The Biologist is a well-crafted, realistic character. Definitely worth a reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Death, Grief, and Body horror

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Medical content