Scan barcode
pterodog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
To get to the good bit of this book, you have to persevere through a good 50 or so pages of recap. That's probably fine for people reading with a break between books, but I picked The Fall up only about a week after finishing The Strain, and boy did the reminders of the plot get tired. Once you get past that though, the book moves pretty fast, and is almost as enjoyable as the first installment of the trilogy. The pacing is breakneck, the returning characters are just the right amount of exhausted and worn down in their fight, and the unravelling plot of The Master and Eldricht Palmer is exciting.
Firstly, I loved Abraham Setrakian even more in this book than I did in the first. He is truly a gem of a character, full of wisdom and reassurance and a truly heartbreaking martyrdom. Reaching the end of the book andreading his final destruction of Sardu and his subsequent death felt like a bittersweet but ultimately satisfying conclusion to his story. I will miss him in the final book.
And I was extremely glad to see Nora get her badass moment - even if again it revolved around her as a caretaker, first for Zach and then her mother. And I was disappointed that her agency was removed again with Ephraim almost telling her rather than asking for her to take Zach upstate - and her agreeing to do it after making her certified #girlboss speech about not being relegated to the role of mother. I highlighted a couple of deeply cringy passages in the book regarding motherhood and Nora's character because they made me roll my eyes so hard. I hope she gets another badass moment in The Night Eternal.
I liked this book less than The Strain, but probably just because it has shifted genres a little further from epidemiology horror to cosmic/sci-fi horror. I'm not complaining, and it's still fun, but with the loss of some of my favourite characters, I hope The Night Eternal really pulls out all the stops to make a great ending for this trilogy.
Firstly, I loved Abraham Setrakian even more in this book than I did in the first. He is truly a gem of a character, full of wisdom and reassurance and a truly heartbreaking martyrdom. Reaching the end of the book and
And I was extremely glad to see Nora get her badass moment - even if again it revolved around her as a caretaker, first for Zach and then her mother. And I was disappointed that her agency was removed again with Ephraim almost telling her rather than asking for her to take Zach upstate - and her agreeing to do it after making her certified #girlboss speech about not being relegated to the role of mother. I highlighted a couple of deeply cringy passages in the book regarding motherhood and Nora's character because they made me roll my eyes so hard. I hope she gets another badass moment in The Night Eternal.
I liked this book less than The Strain, but probably just because it has shifted genres a little further from epidemiology horror to cosmic/sci-fi horror. I'm not complaining, and it's still fun, but with the loss of some of my favourite characters, I hope The Night Eternal really pulls out all the stops to make a great ending for this trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Antisemitism, and Death
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
More...