Cosmic Horror Marriage Story

I was really looking forward to this, and idk, it was just kind of ok.

I liked the idea of having the characters all be referred to as just their titles. It made for interesting characterization and an interesting power dynamic. I also liked the subtle creeping dread that seemed to permeate the whole of the piece. No moment ever felt truly safe, and the strangeness of the world of Area X lent to that unnerving atmosphere.

Speaking of, I really would have liked to see more weirdness in Area X. Yeah, there's weird doppelganger things, the moaning beast, and some fungus, but I really would have liked to see more of the wildlife altered and twisted by whatever is going on in Area X.

I'm also not a huge fan of the unreliableness and vagueness of the narrator as she explores the world around her. Maybe some of the lingering questions I have will be answered in the other two books of the trilogy, but im not really that interested in reading them.

The Biologist's marital and life problems didn't interest me much. I get why they were in the story, but I just didn't find them compelling.

Also, damn, everyone was mean as hell to the Anthropologist. The Surveyor was probably my favorite character tbh. Hope she floats on til morning.

This is another one of those books where I can absolutely see why it blew a lot of folks' socks off, but unfortunately it just didn't click with me.