You know, maybe I’m not such a good person. This book is encumbered with plenty of wtf topped with something that made me feel quite uncomfortable. And yet, I ate it up. I indulged in it. My greasy fingers flipped page after page.

The characters are so deficient of warmth and familial love that their yearning for it is twisted and perverse. They are all ugly in what they do and I feel a bit ugly in my voyeurism. I love how the prose forces these feelings onto me. It is some kind of art.

I’m not sure I’m walking away from this one having learned much. But I was entertained, and maybe seeing the ugly makes everything else a bit more beautiful, and if not, at least it was weird.

I had a truly enjoyable time reading Annihilation. The vibe of the entire book is created with such care and precision. It’s your ears honing in on the bass line and the deep thrumming drives you to bob your head.

Vandermeer has an intensity and care with the language as if it were a poem. This isn’t to say it is poetic in rhythm or rhyme, but the precision of word choices is done with deliberateness. Words contain so much more than meaning, they have emotionally weight, they have sound, they have frequency in context. Choosing words with these aspects in consideration allows such great effect. I adored this all the way through.

I guess my only complaint, and it is a little bit of a ridiculous complaint, is that I wanted it to mean more to me. I’m not looking for more meaning in terms of understanding the book or any sort of clarity with the purposeful ambiguity. I think we are let in on as much as the narrative would allow. I want more emotional residue, I want something sticky like sap on my brain.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I like being in Area X. I like the uncomfortable nature, it still feels more comfortable than uncomfortable crowds.