Is Annihilation overhyped?? || Weekly Reading Update
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- How to Support the Channel:
Public Discord - / discord
Book Club Patreon - www.patreon.co...
Alyssa Starrett (creator of my intro) graphic art information:
Instagram - / alyssa_starrett
Etsy - www.etsy.com/s...
Where you can find me:
Goodreads: / angela
Instagram: literaturesciencealliance
Twitter: @litscialliance
I fundamentally don't understand the appeal of Annihilation. When I read a mystery, when questions are raised by a story, it engages my mind. I'm trying to piece together the clues - form hypotheses, then test them against each new set of reveals as the book goes on. That's what draws me forward. When there's no actual mystery - when there ARE no answers to be had, when there's only vibe and no sense, I feel like I've been cheated. The draw goes away completely (I did not realize what these books were before I picked them up, and I finished the trilogy hoping for answers).
I'M SO WITH YOU ON ANNIHILATION, ANGELA. I think my qualms were a bit different, specially because I really don't have that much baggage in lit-fic or sci-fi (or anything, really, I've just read way fewer books), so I didn't mind the tropes, but I also really thought it was just fine and didn't buy into the hype AT ALL. I see people like Merphy get insanely excited about it and I wish I could feel the same way, but I just don't. It was fine. I haven't given up on the author or the series, I'll try at least the next book in the Southern Reach tetralogy and another non-related book from VanderMeer, but oh boy, not excited to dive back lmao.
Definitely adding The Immortality Thief to my infinite TBR
OOH, BRAZIL MENTIONED, LET'S GOOOO
This week, I only read The Grace of Kings. I'll finish it today and thoughts will be on discord. I've got about 2 and some hours left, which is a considerable amount of book still, but I think I've read enough to say that I did not like it as much as I expected (and wanted) to. It's good now, but it was rough at the start and kinda annoying for a bit in the middle, to me, but I just hate the miscommunication trope, so that's on me. But I'm enjoying it now, and hopefully will continue to enjoy it
Thank you. Merphy Napier is crazy about Annihilation, and it is one of her favorite books and series. I felt similar to your feelings. I feel justified.
"My depression manifests as yarn projects" 😂 Never have I felt more seen, as I've recently come to this realization myself. I used to be deep into the knitting and crochet community and felt so stressed out, even when I was at my most "productive"...and my most depressed. I stepped back a few months ago and my mental health has improved so much and my yarn projects are taking a much smaller role in my life (aka a healthy amount of hyperfixation) and realizing the two were connected 🤯 life changing
For Annihilation Barnes and noble just released a 10 year anniversary with new covers they have holographic foil and look pretty wonder if people want the new covers.
Glad you're getting in some Louise Erdrich. I completely hear you on wondering if it's you when you're not totally into a book, but then picking up something where you just sink in and realizing the previous book just wasn't for you.
THANKS for validating my extremely confused meh feelings on Annihilation lol. I'd be curious to see if you enjoy the sequels more, thanks for taking one for the team and soldiering on 🤣 Also low-key Kihrin energy? I need to check out The Immortality Thief asap.
Sending love your way 🥰
omg in the middle of watching a bunch of stuff for things I NEED to get done.. saw this at the top of my rec list on the right... immediately dropped everything to say NO! IT IS NOT OVERHYPED! I haven't even watched a second of this video... but its not... I listened to this book while jogging around the kitchen island for a Fitbit friend challenge one day, (I slaughtered everyone, thank you... thank you...) and my bff was listening while at the gym and then eating after as well and we kept texting each other to say "I need a stagnant pool of water to observe!!!" "thats it! were signing up for biology classes!" "why did you not make me become a biologist?!?!?!" and we STILL talk about this book YEARS later! omg, if there is a stagnant pool of water... we lose our minds reliving that night and our sudden resurgent need to become biologists!
I often dislike some literary SF that seem disinterested in its SF elements but I think taking the Southern Reach as a whole it is so SFnal and so full of answers as well. A ton of answers raise more questions and you never get the full picture, but I feel like every question you could have having just read Annihilation is answered pretty definitively in sequels. It's not weird for the sake of weird, there's intention and you can tell the author at least knows all the answers. Also as people often dislike Authority, I want to represent other opinions ah ah, because it is my favourite, such a tense and fascinating read if you like slow burns!
I really enjoyed The Immortality Thief and am looking forward to the next book coming out soon.
Excited to hear your thoughts on The Wolf. The Immortality Thief seems excellent, will need to try it out
For annihilation its definitely a marmite book, but I love it. I'm working past that book through the rest of the series now, and I would say book 2 is interesting after that, because you are shifting from Annihilation having a character on an expedition, who has very limited info going into it, and it being in diaries rather than her head is further limiting. Then in Authority you're coming in pov of a new director to the southern reach, coming with fresh eyes, and access to everything, but making sense of the info that's been amassed and the sheer volume is so overwhelming. So there is a really interesting contrast.
I'd say as well, the naming characters off their role in book 1 also does get explained and isn't just the book/character pov, rather it is a choice made about how the particular expedition operates.
All that said... If you don't like book 1 you probably won't like the rest anyway 😄
I LOVED annihilation but I also loved the biologist. I found her super relatable. It's for the "vibes". I grew up watching creepy weird movies. (I'm not watching the actual movie annihilation bc it looks cheesy.)
Having said that, the only other book i enjoyed was acceptance. I dnf'd absolution. I heard borne is great though. (Not southern reach)
Hope your new video schedule is working well for you! I used to watch you when I got ready for work on Friday, but I also work Saturday (boo) so I still get to be entertained while I get ready for work just on a different day. (Woo).
I know you're always looking for latine SFF, so have you heard of The Great Library of Tomorrow by Rosalia Aguilar Solace? I saw it on the nex acquisitions table at my library recently and i immediately thought of you 😅It's on my TBR
I need to try Louise Erdrich! What is your favorite you've read from her so far?
I read Annihilation and the Southern Reach trilogy as they came out and mostly enjoyed them. They hadn't reached the overhyped point. Annihilation was my favorite but I it's not one I've had any desire to revisit. The Immortality Thief sounds great putting it on my TBR the library edition 😊. I'm reading The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and loving it. YA fantasy that is based on a Korean myth.
Great video. Happy reading
🙅♂️ Something that struck me about the “Annihilation” discussion was your reference to ‘literary tropes’ such as not naming characters. I am still trying to parse out of passing mentions what makes a book ‘literary’, so I was attempting to yank out your trope examples that you mentioned briefly.
Delighted to see “The Immortality Thief” getting a +ve reaction as I liked that horror-adjacent cliffhanger-driven book and am looking forward to the sequel later this month 🤗
The locked comments in a StoryGraph buddy read are a tantalising carrot to reading more - I’ve had that experience myself.
I didn’t think I liked Annihilation when I read it, but it grew in my memory. I do really vibe with Vandermeer prose and I liked the atmosphere. I didn’t enjoy the rest of the series as much. It gets confusing and too disconnected imo.
Yeah annihilation is the best. I really want to read borne tho. I kind of hated authority and dnf'd absolution.
@@flowerpixel I think I took too long to read Absolution (over several months) and I absolutely could not keep track of the plot and characters. I want to read more Vandermeer too. The only other I’ve read so far is Hummingbird Salamander and I loved it
⚔
Hah, Annihilation is my favourite book and I DNF'd the Memory Police. Still love the channel though, always so diplomatic in the negative reviews.
I enjoyed Annihilation, but the second book in the series was just admin hell, bored me to death, and I DNF’d it. Currently reading ‘The Stone Weta’, and it feels very timely.
conceptually, annihilation should've been for me & ALL of my sff reading friends loved it. me? i just could not get into it. so i'm actually glad to find someone online who didn't like it either lol ❌❌❌
I'm always getting the vibe lbr
You should try Parasite by Darcy Coates if you want sci fi horror film vibes!
Felt the same way about Annihilation
Sorry you did not vibe with "Annihilation". The MC has one of my dream jobs and the way she views nature was my jam. I DNFed "Authority". I felt it was going nowhere, but I plan to try other of VanderMeer's works like "Borne" and "Venus Underground".
Ever since I've read "Piranesi" for the first time I've been looking for books with similar vibes.
The only thing that came close was a novella translated from Finish, "Tainaron. Mail from Another City" about the only human woman in a city of insects.
"The only human woman in city of insects"???! I am going to at least try this to say I did!
I am sad that Annihilation didn't work for you but slightly vindicated at not rereading it. I really enjoyed the first part, but I remember just getting so lost in the sentences by the end that it was hard to know what was going on.
👽👽👽
✖️
❎️ ❤
❌️📚📚
✖
📚X
♥️♥️♥️
🐺❌🐉= ?
❌️
✖✖✖
❌❌❌
❌
❌😵❎
🙅🏾❌❎
✖️❌❎
✖️❌✖️❌
✖
❌
❌
❌