Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Two stars has the little pop-up ‘it was ok’ and I think that’s fair.

I would place this work squarely into the existential horror category. It’s shades of Lovecraft through and through. IF you’re a fan of that, this book is likely right up your alley. I can’t really call myself a fan of this kind of thing, but I’m not NOT a fan. This is a compelling book, but I just don’t get as worked up about the existential stuff as a lot of fans apparently do. Some things happened, sort of, I think… but I’m not sure. Maybe that’s the point? What did happen? Did it really happen? Wouldn’t a walk on the beach be a good thing to do?

I read and finished this one, but I wasn’t excited about it. I was often just waiting for something to happen. I’m still kind of waiting for something to happen.

This book also (apparently) had a film made of it. I looked at the old trailer and I believe I watched the film. I’m uncertain as not much of it is a clear memory. I didn’t connect the thing I watched to this book at all and had to have it pointed out to me.

I think those two things, no clear memory and waiting for action, amount to a solid summary of my thoughts here.



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Check out the trailer for the Netflix movie too:
https://youtu.be/0m3cPEbwwhg?si=5nFbXdNhcNzOYM37