Book Review: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Pros: interesting premise, strange

Cons: few answers

The Biologist is one of four women sent into Area X on the twelfth expedition to learn more about this mysterious region.

Written as a journal, the book details the expedition, their findings, and the strange occurrences of Area X. Events happen quickly and are very focused, so there isn’t time to learn much about anyone other than the Biologist. The Biologist herself is taciturn and secretive, though you do get flashback scenes that help flesh her out. She’s also not the most reliable narrator, as you sometimes learn that she hasn’t been entirely honest in this account.

The mystery is interesting, though don’t expect to fully understand what’s going on. The story does wrap up nicely.

It’s a quick, unsettling story.