I finished Annihilation yesterday. Before I started (the day before yesterday), I told my husband, “I think you would like this book.” So when I finished, he asked if I thought he would like it. I responded, “ummm….” and he responded, “WOW! That’s a glowing recommendation.”

But here’s the thing, I really liked this book. I couldn’t immediately recommend it to him because I have no standard of comparison. It’s very different from any book I know that he really likes. It reminded me of a book I read a long time ago, but I honestly can’t remember what book it was (mom brain). The way I found to describe it to him was it’s like if Jurassic Park was not about dinosaurs, but just about some unknown creepy stuff. Descriptive, I know.

I loved that the narrative was told through the biologist’s journal. I love that at the end you’re sort of free to decide where the rest of her story goes (and, spoiler alert, the second book in the series does not pick up with her story). I love that you get to see the biologist in her element, really coming alive in Area X in a way that she was not able to do in her life outside.

But, holy moly, do I have a lot of questions. And stop here if you haven’t read the book, because spoilers abound. What happened to cause Area X to form? Is it really the lighthouse keeper in the crawler? Does everyone who comes to Area X get reincarnated? Why was her husband a shell of himself when he came back? What is at the other end of the tower – was it an exit? Was she being watched by people from the Southern Reach? What is the moaning creature in the reeds? Was her husband the dolphin or did he make it up the coast? Why didn’t he reach the border when he walked up the coast? And lastly, what the F is going on here?!

Based on the brief description of book two, it sounds like I might get some of my questions answered, so of course I’m going to read it. And really, was there any doubts that I would? I can’t resist a series.

The bottom line is: I read this book in four hours over the course of two days and it was totally worth it. Go forth, my friends, and devour.