
From goodreads
Earth is broken beyond repair. The Planet is our last hope.
Humanity's first mission to the Planet ended in tragedy, but botanist Jill Jones won’t let that stop her from joining the second.
Perfect climate, perfect terrain, perfect flora and fauna; the Planet has called to Jill all of her life. She knows, with bone-deep certainty, it's home. A new beginning for humanity. She just needs a chance to prove it.
But as Jill and her team survey the Planet, a mysterious presence begins to infiltrate their thoughts. When her colleagues start to disappear, it's up to Jill to uproot the Planet's secrets before they consume her, her friends, and the one man she would do anything to keep. Â
Described as Annihilation meets Stargate, Swallowed is an addictive novella full of fun characters, an intriguing locale, and a jaw-dropping twist. With gorgeous prose and steamy, chill-inducing, horror this book will wrap you up in its vines and never let you go.
Not that you'd want it to.
Meg Smitherman's ability to build depth and emotion between so few characters, and pages, is phenomenal. From the very beginning you feel like you're on the ship with Jill and her comrades, descending onto the last hope of humanity. The bickering and banter cutting the tension and making you fall in love with the foursome. Even serious, seemingly straight-laced Jill, whose history with the Planet is seated deep within her bones.
The curiosity of the characters blooms from chapter to chapter and it's contagious. As they settle down and get to know her, the Planet, and her sentient flora. Curiosity also blooms (this is gonna show up a lot as it is relevant) in Jill for a certain mission leader named Benjamin (Papa Benjamin, if you will). It's safe to say that there was a vague interest there before they landed, but things begin to intensify the longer they're breathing in the Planet's heady oxygen.
Smitherman's talent for creating such a vivid world really puts you in the moment with Jill as the plants caress and tease her, they photosynthesize for her and her crew. With the sense of dread established by the disappearance of the last reconnaissance group, the one that Jill's mother was the only survivor of, the rise of tensions feels destined. Mysterious surges of energy, a sense of being lulled to sleep in an open field, getting lost in the dense forest and losing time. All while Jill's reciprocated hunger for Ben, and the Planet's hunger for ecstasy, grows wildly until they finally collide, and the plants collide with them.
Jill must work through her strained history with her mother, and her mother's history with the Planet, before it consumes her crew the way it consumed her mother's.
Swallowed is a wildly intoxicating ride. It's everything I could have asked for and more, from a sci-fi horrormance. Meg Smitherman exceeded my every expectation with her lush descriptions and beautifully intoxicating spicy scenes. Swallowed is a much needed palate cleanser and the most decadent snack, simultaneously. Trust me, I feel fed!
Can confirm, if you liked Annihilation, or any eerie yet intriguing alien/otherworldly movie or series, you will love Swallowed and should get yourself a copy immediately.
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