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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This was a good one!! I am a huge horror nerd & especially body horror so this was right up my alley. When I saw “The Troop” for some reason I thought soldiers & didn’t realize there would be kids involved, which made it so much more horrific. Loved the descriptions and parasitology involved. All the boys were interesting characters that had me rooting for them (except that one, fuck you). It was also well written & had me almost crying at the end when it was just Max and Newt left. Very excited to read more of Nick Cutter’s work
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one often comes up on lists of gore and body horror, and with good reason. It’s definitely filled to the brim with repulsive moments and ick. I found most of the characters to be completely unlikeable, which I guess helps when you’re putting them through hell, but I also wasn’t rooting for anyone.
To be clear, trigger warnings abound so check them first. The body horror didn’t get to me but the animal abuse felt over the top and completely unnecessary, especially in the context of the turtle scene. I’m sure someone would say I missed some deep symbolic reference but it just feels like a disturbing Cannibal Holocaust homage with no actual point aside from shock value.
The storytelling is engrossing, at times, but the expositional backstory bits feel almost like Family Guy cutaway gags. They are completely random vignettes inserted in-between the action. And Cutter’s overuse of ridiculous metaphors broke the immersion every single time. “A tight, slippery sound like a Vaseline-coated rope pulled through a tightened fist.” “Saliva squirted into his mouth, bitter and tangy as the chlorophyll in a waxy leaf.” “It was slippery and tough like a radial tire slicked in dish soap.”
My brother in christ, this is not high school literature class. You can just use a normal adjective and achieve the same point. Are these vivid metaphors? Sure, but it also makes the book twice as long as it needed to be.
This was a middle of the road book for me. If you want to read a disgusting little romp, you’ll probably enjoy it.
To be clear, trigger warnings abound so check them first. The body horror didn’t get to me but the animal abuse felt over the top and completely unnecessary, especially in the context of the turtle scene. I’m sure someone would say I missed some deep symbolic reference but it just feels like a disturbing Cannibal Holocaust homage with no actual point aside from shock value.
The storytelling is engrossing, at times, but the expositional backstory bits feel almost like Family Guy cutaway gags. They are completely random vignettes inserted in-between the action. And Cutter’s overuse of ridiculous metaphors broke the immersion every single time. “A tight, slippery sound like a Vaseline-coated rope pulled through a tightened fist.” “Saliva squirted into his mouth, bitter and tangy as the chlorophyll in a waxy leaf.” “It was slippery and tough like a radial tire slicked in dish soap.”
My brother in christ, this is not high school literature class. You can just use a normal adjective and achieve the same point. Are these vivid metaphors? Sure, but it also makes the book twice as long as it needed to be.
This was a middle of the road book for me. If you want to read a disgusting little romp, you’ll probably enjoy it.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is horrifyingly haunting, dark, bleak and brutal. One of the best horror tales I've ever read. Nick Cutter has become a new favorite author.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Gore
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Cursing
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the central idea of the story, the body horror aspect was excellent. I really felt the terror and desperation of the boys' situation, and the loss of their humanity (bodily and spirtually) was well done.
However...
One scene in particular involved abuse and killing of a kitten, which I could not bring myself to read. The scene felt gratuitous, and I honestly feel like it would have been better left out. Another scene involving the botched killing of a turtle for food seems to draw more attention among reviewers, which confuses me a little. I felt that the scene (while very difficult to read) really emphasised the powerlessness of the boys, unable to feed themselves and causing great suffering in the attempt. The kitten scene meanwhile felt like the author was overdoing it. Perhaps I'm being unfair, since admittedly I didn't read it through, but I felt that less was more with the horror in these kinds of scenes.
However...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
I thought this book would be scarier but it was more gross! The way the author describes certain scenes is crazy. I found this book more uncomfortable then scary at times. The book took a different direction then I originally thought it would go! I wouldn't describe this book as fun but it was a good read and kept me on my toes. A good spooky season read for sure!
Summary: A group of boy scouts take a yearly camping trip to an island close to their hometown. After a sick, mysterious man arrives everything goes wrong. The man is infected with a lab created worm designed to eat its host alive! The worms slowly infect the scout leader after he tries to help the man. The boys start to take matters into their own hands as they try to figure out what is going on. Kent is the first boy to get infected after putting the scout master in the clsoe for safe keeping. Ephriam was the second boy to fall, due to Shelly (another boy in the troop). Shelly was a troubled boy that ended up being a physcopath. He drowned Kent (who was very infested with worms) and convinced Ephraim to cut himself and eventually light himself on fire ending his life. Newton, a sweet, chubby boy, and Max, the moral leader of the group, are the only two left against Shelly. Shelly finds himself infected with worms and takes the boys supplies to a cave where he plans to kill and eat them. Newton fighting back slices Shelly's belly open spilling many worms all over the cave and ending the boys life. Newton finds himself infected from Shelly's bodily fluid splashing on him. Max fixes a boat with the supplies taken by Shelly and gets him and Newton halfway to the mainland where they are stopped by Navy ships. The soilders kill Newton but spare Max for testing.
As you read you find out the government had played a part in testing and spearding the worm to this island.
Finally, MAx is released back home and struggles to get back to normal life after all the events on Flagstaff island. The final chapter is MAx's pov of driving a boat out to the island and seeing it burned down and the water having been bleached and cleaned to kill any living creature including the worms. He finds himself hunrgy and empty... Like his friends before him.
Favorite Character: Newton or Max. Newton is a sweetheart and always trying to be good and helpful. Max is a classic neutral main character. Always trying to be a good friend and true to who he is.
Least Favorite Character: Shelly. He is a terrible person (I know he was like 13 and not real but still). He was a true physcopath and creul.
Favorite part: Max and Newton at the camp fire after burying Ephraim. Max falles asleep and Newt stays awake. Shelly had already fought with them and knows he is infected with the worms. Shelly watches them from the tree line and Newton sees him. Newton tells him that he sees him and to go away. A very brave and strong moment for Newton, who was the one to hit Shelly with a tree branch earlier. Shelly does end up leaving. I just loved Newton in that moment. Letting Max rest after losing his best friend and being strong and really, a badass!
Least Favorite part: When Shelly described drowning the kitten and when Max and Newton killed the sea turtle. Both were described very well and very gruesome. Both scenes broke my animal loving heart!
Overall feelings: The book moved fast and didn't waste much time. While this wasn't a scary book persay, it was gross and made me feel uncomfortable at times. It was a good read. The way the author described certain things and places made it easy to imagine in my head.
Score: B. Not what I thought it would be but happy with what I got!
Summary: A group of boy scouts take a yearly camping trip to an island close to their hometown. After a sick, mysterious man arrives everything goes wrong. The man is infected with a lab created worm designed to eat its host alive! The worms slowly infect the scout leader after he tries to help the man. The boys start to take matters into their own hands as they try to figure out what is going on. Kent is the first boy to get infected after putting the scout master in the clsoe for safe keeping. Ephriam was the second boy to fall, due to Shelly (another boy in the troop). Shelly was a troubled boy that ended up being a physcopath. He drowned Kent (who was very infested with worms) and convinced Ephraim to cut himself and eventually light himself on fire ending his life. Newton, a sweet, chubby boy, and Max, the moral leader of the group, are the only two left against Shelly. Shelly finds himself infected with worms and takes the boys supplies to a cave where he plans to kill and eat them. Newton fighting back slices Shelly's belly open spilling many worms all over the cave and ending the boys life. Newton finds himself infected from Shelly's bodily fluid splashing on him. Max fixes a boat with the supplies taken by Shelly and gets him and Newton halfway to the mainland where they are stopped by Navy ships. The soilders kill Newton but spare Max for testing.
As you read you find out the government had played a part in testing and spearding the worm to this island.
Finally, MAx is released back home and struggles to get back to normal life after all the events on Flagstaff island. The final chapter is MAx's pov of driving a boat out to the island and seeing it burned down and the water having been bleached and cleaned to kill any living creature including the worms. He finds himself hunrgy and empty... Like his friends before him.
Favorite Character: Newton or Max. Newton is a sweetheart and always trying to be good and helpful. Max is a classic neutral main character. Always trying to be a good friend and true to who he is.
Least Favorite Character: Shelly. He is a terrible person (I know he was like 13 and not real but still). He was a true physcopath and creul.
Favorite part: Max and Newton at the camp fire after burying Ephraim. Max falles asleep and Newt stays awake. Shelly had already fought with them and knows he is infected with the worms. Shelly watches them from the tree line and Newton sees him. Newton tells him that he sees him and to go away. A very brave and strong moment for Newton, who was the one to hit Shelly with a tree branch earlier. Shelly does end up leaving. I just loved Newton in that moment. Letting Max rest after losing his best friend and being strong and really, a badass!
Least Favorite part: When Shelly described drowning the kitten and when Max and Newton killed the sea turtle. Both were described very well and very gruesome. Both scenes broke my animal loving heart!
Overall feelings: The book moved fast and didn't waste much time. While this wasn't a scary book persay, it was gross and made me feel uncomfortable at times. It was a good read. The way the author described certain things and places made it easy to imagine in my head.
Score: B. Not what I thought it would be but happy with what I got!