Reviews

It's been a bit, but this book has absolutely stuck with me. It takes an interesting approach to following up annihilation by turning its focus on the southern reach itself from the perspective of someone thrown in to clean up the aftermath of the events of the first book. Like the influence of the anamolous Area X that the trilogy focuses on the book undergoes a slow metamorphosis over its pages that blooms into exciting revelations and probably one of the best scares I've ever read.

babymoomoocow's review

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dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I nearly DNFed this book. This book didn't have to be as long as it was. I started the book by being really interested. Seeing the office and logistical side of area X was cool to me. Plus this mystery around it and how John/Control fit in it all.

But I got about 60% the way through and I have lost all of my interest. I cranked up the audiobook and listened to the last 4 hours at 3x speed and skimmed the book.

I definitely won't be finishing this series.

amendel's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A slow unraveling, the end to which is worth the wait. Quick read, with momentum.

bubblesuns's review against another edition

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2.0

Annihilation was the book that got me back into reading a couple years ago and man, this was a let down. I adore New Weird / Lovecraftian stuff but this was just dull.

Everything is so scatterbrained - plot threads are abandoned and unique characters pushed to the side as the focus returns to Control’s childhood traumas that never feels as interesting as it’s clearly supposed to.

I understand that’s partly due to how the story progresses (and certain revelations) but it really didn’t work for me.

What I did enjoy was the atmosphere, for better or worse: sometimes I felt like I was falling asleep at my desk and other times I felt a genuine chill at the creepiness of the Southern Reach.

I have a copy of the third book in the series sitting on the shelf and I think it’ll be another couple of years before I get to it.

Lastly, I just couldn’t help but compare it to Remedy’s Control which, although a different medium, achieved what Authority is trying to do so much better.

zmikhael's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition

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2.0

Getting into Southern Reach government conspiracy theories was a promising premise, but, alas, mostly squandered in political machinations that never really ended up anywhere. The many plotlines of Control's CIA family dynasty, the staff generally tormenting him like unruly kids after a new governess, and the still very unsolved everything about Area X all dragged on and on. At the end, Control's family is all wrapped up in it with little indication of why, Grace the assistant director "wins" with no meaningful character reveal, and Area X is still spreading with a fresh dramatic new boundary. Not much new information for 350 pages, but concluded with enough of a cliffhanger that I'll likely read the last one.

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