Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Sept 19, 2025

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer was another simple rec from a friend that has left me changed, awestruck, and in love. I'll try to stay spoiler-free in this review, because I truly believe you should read it too, but I might slip up. It's just so obvious. Everything about this book just makes sense. I couldn't imagine it going any other direction but this way.

The inevitably of the ending of this really shook me. I could feel the ending coming, sense it from page one, still it gripped me by my shoulders and dragged me to the end. Dragging me through the biologist's mind and life and her expedition in Area X. What an interesting narrator to take us on this journey, though I doubt anyone else could've been better fitted to the role. She's distant and strange, intelligent and blunt, observant and curious. I don't feel connected to her or her past like I would in another novel, but that's why she's so perfect for being the POV character. We experience Area X with her, through her, without all the fluff of emotions.

That's not to say that the biologist doesn't feel. She expresses guilt often, same with curiosity. I feel like maybe she's meant to embody some diagnosis she doesn't know she has. Something that mutes the emotional, or at least something that makes it difficult to express openly. It's not just that she's a scientist because in the bits we get of her relationship in the world before, we see her struggle with romance and connection. A completely separate part of her life than the scientific job field she's been drawn to, and she still can't communicate like she wants to. I feel her frustration at this, but she's also determined to stay indifferent about said frustration. She's so complex and wildly interesting to me. I'd read an entire 200 pages more of her explorations beyond the expedition. I just love her voice and the way it lends to a true view of the world around her, even if at times biased. She's honestly a bad person sometimes, too. To me, that makes her a better narrator to be than a good person in this scenario.

Area X and Southern Reach remain a mystery to me. I'm so intrigued by the lack of explicit explanations for anything in this book. Her reactions and guesses are so realistic, but she really doesn't know anything beyond what she sees and what she's told. Even then… Well, I won't spoil it. She's an unreliable narrator, but I rely on her statement of facts so heavily. She doesn't seem like a liar. She's not lying to the readers, just can't be trusted. Both because of her lack of understanding, and because of the outcome of her first descent into the Tower. (You'll understand once you're into the book.)

It's like I know so much about this place now, but I also know nothing at all. Same as the biologist. We went through this journey together only to come out the other side changed and unknowing still. I love that, for real. I don't want it all nicely wrapped up with a bow for our clear view of Area X. I want to be confused with our narrator. I liked it. It felt more real and overwhelming.

I'm excited to delve into the other books in this series. I'm hoping my library hold on the second book isn't long because I want to dive in immediately. I savored every page of this book, and I expect to do the same with the rest of them. Vandermeer's writing is so vivid. I can see every image clearly behind my eyes. The way the biologist was developed yet still hard to grasp as a reader, was also wonderful. I'm in awe. This has opened my eyes to an entirely new way of writing, which I might just try my hand at. If I feel ambitious enough.

Wonderful book, wonderful writing, wonderful world and character(s). Highly recommend!

Now onto the rest of the books, and maybe even the movie…