Premise
Annihilation follows the biologist of the twelfth expedition into Area X, where nature has reclaimed a part of human civilization. There are three other members on this expedition, all women, and all have different specialties. They enter the border expecting the unexpected and that is exactly what they get. It is the secrets between them that truly change things.
Trigger Warnings
- Suicide and attempted suicide discussed
- Dead bodies
- Terminal cancer discussed
- Murder
- Gun violence
- Mind control & loss of autonomy
My Review
Annihilation wowed me. Jeff VanderMeers’ writing and style hooked me in on the first page. You get told all this information but realize actually VanderMeer holds back a lot and I wanted my questions actually answered, badly. The tension built and built and you could feel it as if you are in the book. Oh it is so good!
This book is considered environmental sci-fi and eco-horror. It was my first dip into this subgenre and it exceeded my expectations. From the cover alone, I knew I would be in for a trippy ride; it did not disappoint at all. For example, VanderMeer gives no dates or location besides Area X has been there for 30 years. But very little is actually known about Area X even after all this time.
Annihilation is written as if we are reading someone’s journal. We get the point of view of The Biologist and she seems as a very unreliable narrator. She interprets things differently than what seems normal in the world the book is set in.
The pacing is very natural and medium speed. Some things seem drawn out but that is more of how descriptive the writing is of the environment. The writing is atmospheric and I can almost picture Area X perfectly in my mind from VanderMeer’s writing and how descriptive he is.
The key characters are the women on the twelfth expedition. The main character is, of course, the Biologist. The problem with these characters is that sometimes they don’t feel real with the mind control and we don’t know anything about the characters prior to them entering Area X or something relating to Area X. No names, no descriptions, no history other than the Biologist talking about her husband. They are just there, it’s like you leave behind anything from before Area X and it consumes what is left of you.
Annihilation explores so much like grief and loneliness between the biologist and her husband. Mind control and the loss of autonomy is a very big one that is embedded in the book from start to finish with the psychologist using hypnosis to “help” the others on the expedition.
Another theme that actually influences us readers is the unknown and mysterious vs. the human mind. Area X is completely unknown and trippy as hell. As the biologist tells us things that are weird about Area X and the creepy things that happened in Area X, it really lives up to the eco-horror.
I love this book. One of my favorite things about Annihilation is that it gives the feeling of the Earth trying to claim her land back from the humans. It drives in the lesson of how some things are bigger than us and we might never understand them and I love that. The only two things I dislike is I wish the chapters were shorter and VanderMeer tells you so much but at the same time nothing of substance.
That’s all for now, ’til next time.
Happy Reading!
Lily
