Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

11 reviews

theirgracegrace's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

Annihilation starts off with a series of questions, but its ending does not answer them to incredible effect. The plot centres around an expedition of four scientists who are the twelfth expedition to a place called Area X, where a strange historical event has led to the complete removal of human civilization. What this "human civilization" is replaced with, and what the four uncover about each other, tells a harrowing tale about what it means to be human. 

I was recommended this by a friend who was into biology, and I can definitely say it was a worthy recommendation! I read it all in a handful of sittings over the course of twenty-four hours and this was because I could not put it down. Each revelation is followed by something even more tense and terrifying, and the ending leaves so much unanswered...leading nicely into a second and third book. An amazing read, all in all!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Suicide and Cursing

One of the characters uses hypnosis on the others, including a (ineffectual) command to kill themselves.

ashleybakerwrites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

It was pretty good! Definitely unlike any book I've ever read. I thought the writing was very interestingly technical. I can say it probably won't work for everyone- but if you settle in for the atmosphere rather than the character development- you'll have a good time. The stuff was spooky- and I'd recc this to all my sciencey/foragey friends. I feel like they'd get a kick out of this. May return to the series later if I keep thinking about this like I am now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, and Gun violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Gore

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Cancer, and Terminal illness

bibliosexual's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Animal death, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer and Alcoholism

sir_willyam's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Psychological horror juxtaposed next to beautiful natural scenery, Annihilation focuses on the willfulness behind self-destruction, and the resistance of healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt, Cancer, Violence, Sexual content, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Murder

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.

kwoolfre's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

👁️👁️ jeff was on something when he wrote this 

I feel like the narrator is divisive for readers and I actually don't care. If you don't like her, kys. They are simply too weak for her. Now, the focus on her sexuality from the author? Strange choice. But the biologist is a god to me. 
Also, the movie absolutely butchered this book. It kinda makes me mad but then again, there's no way they could've done it justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror and Grief

Minor: Cancer

the_great_tumbleweed's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

This is definitely the spookiest scifi I've read - the mysteriousness and hostility of the setting and its impact on the characters is so pleasingly creepy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Body horror, and Suicide

darbo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was eerie, haunting, yet also creepy and fascinating in a weird but good way. It follows the 12th expedition into what is known as Area X, the internal struggles between the expedition members, as well as traces and glimpses into past lives of not only our main character, the biologist, but also of what Area X might’ve once been before, and what remains of that. In this ever changing landscape, we follow our character(s) through what can only be described as a “mindf**k”, and we, as the reader, begin to loose track of what’s real and what isn’t. I’m truly stunned and impressed by this book, the writing beautiful and vivid in a manner that resembles that of a classic, yet comprehensible, making it easy to understand for everyone. In my books, this is a modern classic. My compliments to the chef. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Mass/school shootings, and Torture

nojerama's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism