Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Rating: ★★★★★

Well, after my last review, I’m very surprised to be back here so soon. I read this book in two or three days, which is remarkable. I couldn’t put it down. I read 50 pages one day, and finished it the next time I picked it up. I won’t lie. This may have to do with the fact that I saw and loved the movie some time ago. The book is different, but the essence is there. It just pulled me in.

This book is pure science fiction, but in a natural world type of way, not a space and aliens type of way. Essentially, there’s a strange area of the world – Area X – that is cordoned off by the military. They send in expeditions to investigate. The book opens with the twelfth expedition going in. According to Goodreads: “The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.”

Much of this book and what it’s trying to say is intangible and ethereal. I don’t really know what’s going in. There’s a lot of mystery. And that can be a bit frustrating, having no answers. But for some reason it doesn’t bother me. The environment, the characters, the prose… All of it is enthralling. Annihilation is now one of my most favorite books.

I would like to continue the series, but I’m almost nervous the sequel won’t be as good, and it would taint the experience. I think I’ll put some time between now and picking it up.

The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley

Rating: ★★★

I haven’t finished reading a book since May of this year. I’ve started a few, but I just couldn’t continue with them. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to officially stop all of them and pick up a short book. I have a shelf on Goodreads for books I’m interested in which are 150 pages or less. The Beauty is very short. Goodreads gives it 99 pages, but I doubt it. I read just about everything on my phone, and the edition I have has another short story at the back, so I can’t say for sure how many pages it is. The point is, it was short, which is why I was able to finish it.

That sounds mean. The story was intriguing and I wanted to see what happened, so I kept going. But, due to my own inability to read, I would stop for several days at a time. I’m hoping that in the new year I will be more dedicated to reading. Since it’s so short, I don’t want to say much about the plot. I will say that the story opens with a group of boys and men living on their own. All the women have died from some sort of disease that does not affect men. I personally wasn’t clear if it was a fungus that started in the women’s bodies, or was something that came from without and entered them. Either way, they are gone. But something comes to the men which will seemingly replace the women, or offer something new.

The book is fascinating, sexual, and gross. It might be something I would visit again, but it’s definitely something I will be thinking about for a while. I thought about rating it four stars, but there are so many things that I’m unclear on. That can happen with a story so short. But the premise doesn’t really allow for something to be developed further. So here we are.

The Beauty was published in 2014, and more recently there has been a lot of talk surrounding trans rights, issues, laws, restrictions, etc. I am non-binary, and while I’m not sure if I would call myself trans, I am firmly on the side of trans rights. The reason I mention this is that this story is saying a lot about societal expectations of one’s gender identity. It goes further into changing biology of people within the story. I can’t help but read what’s happening through today’s lens. I don’t know what I would have thought if I read it in 2014. But it just feels like it’s screaming something about trans people here. I just don’t know what it is.

Because the book is so thought-provoking, I would recommend it, but I wouldn’t expect any clear understanding. It’s kind of just there, showing you something interesting. I enjoyed it.

You by Caroline Kepnes

Rating: ★★★★

This book was very intriguing and engrossing, but after finishing it, I’ve realized I didn’t like it or enjoy it. I found myself disgusted by and scared of Joe. I wanted something bad to happen to him. That’s what I kept reading for. Since it kept me so interested, I have to give this book a high rating. I can’t give it five stars because it just didn’t have that spark for me, but this story is definitely different and kept me turning pages.

Joe Goldberg is a stalker through and through. That’s not a spoiler. The book begins because a girl walks into his bookshop, named Beck, and he becomes so instantly obsessed that the entire book is written in second person directed at her. The whole story is written from his perspective. Everything he does is for Beck in some way that he justifies. Very creepy, and very well done.

The best thing about this book is how Joe’s emotions change his perspectives. One minute he’s in love with Beck, then he realizes something, and she’s a slut. He wouldn’t say this out loud. He’s very careful with what he says out loud. But the running inner monologue demonstrates how unhinged he is.

The book kept me turning pages to find out what would happen to Joe, or what he would do next. It was enthralling in that way. It’s not slow, though there are some lags where time has to pass in the book. However, the last 20-30 pages is where a lot happens, and I’m not about to discuss it here since I don’t want to spoil anyone. I thought the ending was done well and it made me have strong emotions. At first I thought I didn’t like the whole book because of it. But then I realized… Well, I really don’t want to spoil anything.

I know about the tv show and the sequels. I haven’t watched the show and I don’t know if I want to read the sequels. When this first came out, I swear I remember it being marketed as a stand alone book. Then it was popular, so then there was a sequel. That’s one of my biggest pet peeves. It’s either a stand alone or it isn’t. So I kind of just want to enjoy it as a stand alone. If you’ve read the series, though, and think the sequels are just as good, please let me know.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Rating: ★★★★

I read extremely slowly, especially since 2017. It’s just been difficult for me to consume things. However, I loved going back to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I kept feeling excited for what was going to happen next. Things started off so well. I viewed it as Rosemary’s story, and that she was going to become a part of this interesting crew.

However, after a certain point, and I don’t want to give any spoilers so bear with me, it seemed like the author didn’t know where to go. Events were no longer planned. Everything was a surprise. Characters, from Rosemary to Corbin, acted so out of character. Or at least, they weren’t developed enough. Perhaps it was a bit past the half-way mark that things started to degrade.

I still kept returning to the book, but the frequency of picking it up became less and less. Yes, I read slowly, but it took me two months to read the book. Usually, at least lately, I can get through a book in a month or less.

There was a lot of potential in this book. It is so creative and fantastical. I love the world, the universe, that’s created. It’s huge and wonderful and I loved exploring it in the pages of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. But in the end, things were just so underdeveloped.

I skimmed the acknowledgements after I finished reading the story, and I think Chambers said she turned to finishing the novel after her freelance work dried up. Well, if there was a dedicated part of book-writing and then a “I have no money and am terrified” part of book-writing, I can clearly see it.

I’m just disappointed.