Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1) in 2017 Reading Challenge

Apr 05, 2016 Betsie rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction, 2016-52-books, dystopian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I've been thinking a lot about this book since I finished it. There was so much craziness that it was hard for me to get to the plot. I *think* that the premise is some sort of environmental disaster led to a geographical area being cordoned off for many years. The story starts off with the "eleventh" expedition of scientists heading to Area X for a research trip.

The first thing that was frustrating in this book was the fact that no-one is a reliable source of information. Three of the four mem I've been thinking a lot about this book since I finished it. There was so much craziness that it was hard for me to get to the plot. I *think* that the premise is some sort of environmental disaster led to a geographical area being cordoned off for many years. The story starts off with the "eleventh" expedition of scientists heading to Area X for a research trip.

The first thing that was frustrating in this book was the fact that no-one is a reliable source of information. Three of the four members of the expedition are under hypnosis so that they will see what is instructed and do as they are told. One of the three becomes resistant to hypnotic suggestion during the mission, but may or may not still be under previous hypnotic suggestion. It is my belief that the hypnotist is also under hypnotic suggestion from someone higher up so she is not a reliable character either.

Another thing that bothered me was the Tower/tunnel. The main character saw this underground structure as a tower and kept referring to it that way throughout the book. The other characters saw it as a tunnel because it goes underground. The biologist (none of the characters had names, but that's okay because they were all entirely unlikeable), believed that the Tower/tunnel was actually a living organism, but that idea was never really flushed out so I'm not sure where that stands.

The story was very disjointed, going back and forth between the present and past. Normally, this doesn't bother me but it was so abrupt that I sometimes had to go back and figure out where the switch had happened. In all, the flashbacks only made me dislike this character more each time.

Even for all that I didn't like, I am intrigued about where this story is going in the next 2 books and I hope that some questions are answered. What is the writer thing??? What is it's purpose? What does the writing mean? Who is the lighthouse keeper? Where did the boat go? Are the people turning into animals? See... So much weird in one book.

I'm glad that I got it from the library rather than buying it, but I will probably read the remaining books (from the library) to find out what happens. ...more

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May 01, 2014 Miss_Cultura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: finish, mis-libros-favoritos, nota-5

http://www.soycazadoradesombrasylibro... ...more

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Jan 14, 2015 Gretchen rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2015

Very disappointed with this novel. I understand that it's a trilogy, and this is book one. But not only did I not love the book, I really didn't care when it ended.

I won't rehash the plot, but there were several interesting concepts here:
- is the narrator reliable?
- what is the nature of Area X? Some form of purgatory? An enhanced/alien environment?
- how do you get to and from Area X?
- what's in the tower/tunnel?
- is there a specific reason why this was an all-female team?
- what's going on wi ...more

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Jul 24, 2014 Beth rated it liked it

Well written, really captures a mood and place, but I just couldn't fully engage. I liked the biologist's back story (what little was revealed) more than I liked the Area X stuff. Similar to the TV series Lost, it was equal parts frustrating and compelling. ...more

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