A review by madhu42
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

mysterious tense slow-paced

4.25

A haunting, confusing, almost ethereal sci-fi piece, with elements of supernatural/eldritch horror that feel very much more like magical realism. I most liked how effectively the writing conveys how much of the reality of Area X is beyond human comprehension. You're not going to understand what is actually going on, any more than the narrator does. While I generally have no love for first-person narratives, I really enjoyed the biologist as narrator; her thought processes are so bizarrely relatable (the autism) and entertaining that I was immediately drawn in to her character, fleshed out through her philosophical musings and arguments with the psychologist. I also really liked the Tower and the Lighthouse as complementary and opposing entities/characters. I think overall the story is an unsettling study on loneliness, loss, and disease, and how these physical and psychological tortures can corrupt and transform the self. 

The pace is quite slow though, with little action to drive the plot forward -- I expected a much more dynamic story from the summary. However, I'm still tempted to try out the next book in the series. 
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