Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

13 reviews

keegan53's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• 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

4.75

This book is the kind of book that makes you stop, ask yourself “what the heck did I just read”, and reread the sentence. I mean this in the best possible way. Annihilation is such a mind-bending story. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Sexual content, Self harm, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, and Suicide

A note on the body horror:

Spoiler

things that should not be made out of flesh are made out of flesh

msradiosilence's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Self harm, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Violence, Cursing, Death, and Sexual content

rickvsthebooksagenda's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, and Cancer

mosshaunt's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

sometimes i found the text confusing, and either too detailed or not detailed enough, but i feel that is the most appropriate way to experience the world of area x, in the same way the biologist is compelled into it.

would i say it is incredible? no. but because of its flaws, i loved it.

sidenote: multiple major characters are confirmed to not be white in the sequel, but it is not brought up in this book at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Sexual content

kinddog2073's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-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

3.75

Read this because I loved the film based on it that came out a few years ago and have rewatched it several times. I didn't know much of what to expect going in, but had read Hummingbird Salamander a few months ago and found that there was much to recognise in the tone and attitude of the narrator towards the reader. Vandermeer likes narrators that hold back information, at least between these two novels. This book landed better than Hummingbird Salamander for me, mostly due to it being far less hopelessly nihilistic. I suppose Vandermeer might be feeling a bit less hopeful about climate crisis recently... can't blame him for that really.

The themes in this book felt a lot more relatable to me, regarding assimilation and especially guardedness in relationships. Hummingbird Salamander had far fewer relatable elements in it for me, perhaps aside from the paranoia of the narrator as a security researcher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Gun violence, and Animal death

mossgoblins's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Annihilation feels like a hallucination in the best way. Although there is little focus on the characters outside of their archetypes, VanderMeer’s calculated use of language and gorgeous, terrifying worldbuilding make the book a joy for any surrealist horror fan to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Murder, and Body horror

savvy999's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

Wow. Quietly, hauntingly, beautiful and luminescent, this novel scratches at the window trying to get in begging to take up residence and by the end you have opened the door halfway, waiting for it to step foot inside. You turn to walk down the hall, and it is already beside you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Alcohol

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.

mostawesomedan's review

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Violence

calamitywindpetal's review

informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Violence, Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt