Reviews

OK wow, that ending! The story lost me for a bit in the middle but boy did it ever reel me in for the last 50 pages. Solid horror - I loved the monster imagery, it was truly eerie and I definitely need to watch the movie now. My main con was that I feel the story could be condensed a bit, this was longggg for a horror novel at 400 pages.

kaitlynnjean's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

Really good tense and horrifying book. I really enjoyed the second half, which it seems a lot of folks don’t.

But I’m giving 3 stars because his misogyny and fatphobia got tiring. Like, we get it! You hate women! Boo boo tomato tomato. Women suck!! And fat women? Even worse. It felt so weird seeing how he dedicated the book to his wife but then all the characters hate their wives and all women. Like … huh? Okay. Sure.

Anyway, I still liked the book. I love how he describes the horror, and I felt sickened and exhausted, just as the characters did. Nevill does an excellent job with tone.

violetturtledove's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This had me absolutely gripped the whole way through. It's a great mix of Scandinavian folklore and survival horror, with a good dash of 'spooky cabin in the woods'. I only felt really creeped out in the earlier chapters, but this is not faint praise as its a feeling I rarely get at all from books. By the time the creepiness faded for me, the tension was already high and it did not let up for the rest of the story. There's also a good amount of visceral horror so fans of gore will not be disappointed.

The characters were well fleshed out, if not particularly likeable, and by the end you certainly sympathise with the main character despite his faults.

It ends well too, there's enough left for the reader to think on without anything being left glaringly unanswered. This is the first book I've read by this author and I will definitely be reading more.

Content Warnings

eximo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

anything_happy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

linzo49's review against another edition

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The book was dragging. I had seen the movie first and I think that was my mistake. Because the book is slow without actually building tension. Not for me.

escapinginpaper's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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