I think it’s been like forever I haven’t blogged and I felt so empty LOL This post is about one of my favourite novel EVER! Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer was such an unique experience that I’ve been postponing its review because I felt like I would NEVER do this book justice. Here I will try my best to describe my love for the book.
“The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?”
Area X is an unknown area under a military surveillance. 4 women from four different expertise are recruited to go in that restricted area and collect data. A biologist, a psychologist, an anthropologist and a Surveyor. I KNOW I’M THE QUEEN OF SHORT DESCRIPTIONS.
The main strength of this book is the ability of the author to reinvent the psychological thriller using the atmosphere and words to build something completely unnerving. It crawls under your skin. It makes you uncomfortable but you are attracted by it at the same time. The whole magic lays behind the suspense of not knowing what we are going into. We only have the descriptions from the biologist perspective but that’s enough to make us and wonder and scared. The elements of Area X are strange and wonderful. Jeff may be genius or simply drunk while building up this world but it was worth it.
You can’t really review this book like every other book. Character development? Almost non-existent. Worldbuilding? A mystery. Resolution? Nothing really resolves.
And I think that’s the whole point of this novel. It will make you awe at everything but doubt everything. I feel like the author was just having fun at putting a big question mark concerning all the possible sciences in the world. Because the whole point is to strip us down of all our comfort zones and knowledge and make us face the facts in front of us. Can you still believe your logic while your eyes are telling you otherwise?
I’m recommending this book to everybody! I don’t care if you end up hating it LOL The experience alone is memorable.
FYI: Annihilation is the first book in the Area X trilogy.
Having loved this novel so much, I couldn’t help but WATCH THE MOVIE starring Nathalie Portman.
Thoughts? It was brilliant. Alex Garland changed A LOT of things in the movie but for once, I think he did the right move. As the book is compelling and beautiful, he succeeds in bringing out those aspects in the movie too. But to completely ADAPT 100% like the book, it would be very hard. For the medium of the movie is not quite the same as words in a white page. The movie looks like what Alex’s version solution to the novel. What he would like as a resolution.
I will still recommend reading the book before the movie ! You may end up being WTF x10 if you haven’t read it, but if you read it you’ll still end up WTF but only WTFx2 you know. The good news is it will be available on Netflix!! Pretty soon, March 12 I think 😉
RATING: 4.7/5
Thank you to Jeff Vandermeer’s publicist for sending me a copy of this book review !
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