Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Annihilation

The atmosphere, tension, the sense of dread and the mystery, and the prose were enthralling all the way through. However, this was missing deep characters and character development. I didn't root for anyone or really care about anyone. If you are looking for stron characters or a protagonist to root for, look elsewhere.

Great atmosphere. Perfect for cosmic horror fans, and just generally existential. I will be thinking about this for long time.

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lettigirl101's review

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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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boglord's review

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Area X is a mysterious and apparently dangerous region that has been explored by eleven previous expeditions, with varying success. The members of the eleventh expedition returned under mysterious circumstances, with missing memories, and all died of cancer within a few months. We follow the twelfth expedition as they enter Area X and almost immediately encounter strange and inexplicable phenomena for which they are not prepared. The story is part science fiction, part psychological horror, and answers your questions only to leave you with many more.

A friend recommended this book, and I usually don’t like science fiction, but I recently read (and loved) Dune, so I thought I’d give it a try. Unfortunately, my favorite thing about Dune—the worldbuilding— was almost nonexistent in Annihilation. I can appreciate the lack of description and backstory as a device to increase the suspense (and establish our narrator as unreliable), but it’s just not my cup of tea. I also didn’t like a single one of the characters;

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especially as the narrator became increasingly unreliable and suspicious. I felt like I was trapped in her head, willing her to do one thing…and then she would promptly do the opposite. The final straw was her murder of the surveyor.

I really enjoy stories where the setting becomes another character (a la Dune, Piranesi, or Wind, Sand and Stars, just to name a few of my recent reads), especially if that setting is really just nature itself. Annihilation did this to an extent, but the confusion of the story and disorientation of the narrator and the situation prevented Area X from becoming truly alive. This may be a personal problem though; I was talking to a friend about books recently and she pointed out that I like to understand, and she’s right—it’s the reason I love really strong, intricate worldbuilding and am disappointed by endings that don’t tie everything nicely together.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

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definitely not happy by my standards, but it’s the first book in a trilogy so of course it has to leave room for the next story. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish the series, but it did leave me with unanswered questions…

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