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charlieeee's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Sexism
Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Kidnapping
The first part was fabulous. Some really good examinations of people growing apart; philosophy of life (for male-socialised people anyway); it was tense and had some great metaphors and other strong writing. And then part two happened where I would have sworn I was reading a completely different book altogether! The metaphors were over the top, made no sense in the context of the scene and the characters were really stereotypical - and the less about ‘Surtr’ and the constant repetition about her breasts, body and ‘smell’ of her genitalia the better. Was so disappointed by part two. So so disappointed.snazzy10101's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the vibes are wonderful (including the second half with the black metal band, i liked the change of pace) and the descriptions are baller.
however. none of the characters are remotely likeable, and there are 2 female characters (one old lady, and one teen girl who is fat shamed AND sexualised).
there’s a lot of fat phobia
however. none of the characters are remotely likeable, and there are 2 female characters (one old lady, and one teen girl who is fat shamed AND sexualised).
there’s a lot of fat phobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Antisemitism, and Cultural appropriation
pastelbread's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Death, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Addiction
chessakat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel like this was almost two books smashed together. I greatly preferred the first half - so scary and atmospheric! Lots of dread but also just magic, friend tension, drama.
The second half just epically needed an editor - I think I just got EXTREMELY fatigued by the high state of tension. Like, you can only feel despair and hopelessness for so long before my brain is just like, please, for the love of dog, make something plot-y happen again. It just dragged so so much. I think I just strongly preferred the supernatural scary to the humans. They were so banal.
By the time the end came I was so ready for it to be over that finally seeing the monster was just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
Curious to see the movie adaptation, as I heard it diverges from the book quite a bit.
The second half just epically needed an editor - I think I just got EXTREMELY fatigued by the high state of tension. Like, you can only feel despair and hopelessness for so long before my brain is just like, please, for the love of dog, make something plot-y happen again. It just dragged so so much. I think I just strongly preferred the supernatural scary to the humans. They were so banal.
By the time the end came I was so ready for it to be over that finally seeing the monster was just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
Curious to see the movie adaptation, as I heard it diverges from the book quite a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, and Gore
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you haven't read Adam Nevill before, don't start with this book.
In fact, you can skip this book entirely if you want - or just read the first half, which was fantastic and then make up your own ending. I imagine that Adam Nevill himself must not have liked the ending because they totally changed it and other major story elements in the film adaptation (which was for the better).
A lot of people talk about how this book feels like 2 totally different books and it does.
The first half was the brilliance I'd expect from the author. Four university friends re-unite after many years to go on a hiking trip. Their lives have taken different trajectories since the good ol days. Dom and Phil are financially successful and have families of their own but work a lot and are out of shape. Luke is the polar opposite - he never really amounted to anything after school, lives alone, and works at a record store. Hutch is recently married, doing well, and is the glue that holds the group together. Dom and Phil are wildly unprepared for the trip and after Dom hurts his knee, Hutch suggests taking a shortcut through the woods to shave time off their hike. It was a horrible decision.
The first half of the book outlines the friends being lost in thick overgrown woods. The setting itself is unforgiving and terrifying but to make things worse, there's also some kind of malicious presence that seems to be stalking them and poses a physical and mental threat. The author does a great job at making you feel the characters physical exhaustion but on top of that, there's a heavy emotional layer to the group as they realize they have very little in common with the people they were closest to 15 years ago. Tensions build in every aspect and are beautifully written. The survival aspect felt really well done - I've been reading some exploration and survival non-fiction lately and this book felt pretty realistic.
Around the halfway point there were some scenes that I found genuinely scary and I regretted reading so late at night in a house surrounded by forest. Other people say the first half seems repetetive but I think drawing out the struggle works because you feel exhausted, confused, and scared alongside the characters.
Then you pass the halfway point and the story turns into basically a whole new story with almost entirely new characters. The tension, grit, and realism evaporates. I think the second half could have been interesting if it was a totally different story but we didn't need new antagonists. The forest, presence in the forest, and conflict amongst the friends was more effective. The second half is confusing, introduces characters and heightened violence that both feel cartoony and silly. The presence in the forest goes from being a huge threat to feeling like an accessory. The movie is actually way better, which is wild. Nevill also wrote a short story about a similar concept that is also more affective.
Its hard to critique completely without spoiling it so I will put the spoilers below.
Here's my favourite things. The first half of the book includes characters while struggling to survive harsh environment and low morale while slowly being stalked and getting picked off by essentially what I'd consider to be the spirit of the forest. There's also some freaky occult shit in a scary house and nightmares and such but I don't want to focus on that, although it's fun. Hutch is the first to die which is brilliant because he's the glue of the group and it tests the other party members as tensions had been incredibly high between Luke and the others (with Luke even beating Dom up at one point). We find out Dom and Phil are both facing issues at home with their marriages and businesses falling apart, adding a new layer to their characters. Luke, who is the least successful in life is forced to adapt a leadership role, despite earlier plans of wanting to leave the group and go ahead for help as he is in the best physical shape. It's very scary when they camp in a clearing. Dom is keeping watch, Phil is looking for fire wood, and Luke is climbing a tree to look for the way to the edge of the forest. Phil gets taken. Then theres a nice moment where Dom tells Luke to go ahead because he knows hes a burden and he wants Luke to survive. But Luke has a nice character arc and doesn't want to leave his friend. Dom is almost taken but Luke drives the creature away, unfortunately sustaining a head injury in the process. Dom tried his best to treat Lukes wound and keep watch so he can rest. They trudge out the next day, staying close together and reaching peak exhaustion. with no supplies left and knowing if they don't escape the forest today, it'll be the end. Luke only knows Dom is there by hearing/feeling his breathing. But turns out it wasn't Dom. Dom was taken and the creature is right behind him, pretending to be Dom. Scary. Brilliant. I loved it. Luke passes out from exhaustion and being concussed - giving up. Holy shit. After all that, how are we only half way through the book? What more could possibly happen? I have chills!
And if you stop reading there, you'll be happy.
Luke awakens in a grimey bed surrounded by 3 weirdos (teenagers?) in masks and a weird old lady who kind of nurse him back to health with food and water while also treating him like garbage. The 3 people are in a black metal band who no one listens to and they want to be evil and badass. They're all semi-sadistic idiots who Luke doesn't take seriously and neither do we, as the readers. They want the old lady to call the forest god so they can sacrifice Luke and be more badass and evil? The creature just kind of stays away for quite awhile in this section, which is silly because it was meticulously stalking and lurking the whole first half. Luke wants to escape and go to a hospital, but these people wont let him leave. In the first half of the book it was established that Luke has anger issues that can lead to him snapping easily and going into violent frenzies. In the first half he had a good character arc with Dom in which he overcame his anger and chose the path of cooperation/teamwork, and compassion. The climax of the second half of the book involves Luke realizing he needs to kill the band members in order to escape but he also kind of sucks at fighting in this section. I think it could have been more effective if Dom or Phil was still alive and Luke unleashed his anger to save his friend. That message of being capable of violence to protect loved ones could have been powerful. Instead, he kills some of the bandmembers and the creature kills one of them. Then he kills the old lady (who has goat legs?) who has goat legs and also some weird ancient creature in the attic that made no sense to me. Then he drives away in a truck as the creature pursues him and he shoots the creature and walks out of the forest. Wtf.
So Luke started the book feeling alone and essentially ends it being alone but also kind of grateful for what little he does have, even though he's not even safe yet?
What the heck.
Adam Nevill is still one of my favorite horror authors but this one was frustrating because the first half was a 4-5 star read and then it plummeted to a 1. Makes it super hard to rate.
In fact, you can skip this book entirely if you want - or just read the first half, which was fantastic and then make up your own ending. I imagine that Adam Nevill himself must not have liked the ending because they totally changed it and other major story elements in the film adaptation (which was for the better).
A lot of people talk about how this book feels like 2 totally different books and it does.
The first half was the brilliance I'd expect from the author. Four university friends re-unite after many years to go on a hiking trip. Their lives have taken different trajectories since the good ol days. Dom and Phil are financially successful and have families of their own but work a lot and are out of shape. Luke is the polar opposite - he never really amounted to anything after school, lives alone, and works at a record store. Hutch is recently married, doing well, and is the glue that holds the group together. Dom and Phil are wildly unprepared for the trip and after Dom hurts his knee, Hutch suggests taking a shortcut through the woods to shave time off their hike. It was a horrible decision.
The first half of the book outlines the friends being lost in thick overgrown woods. The setting itself is unforgiving and terrifying but to make things worse, there's also some kind of malicious presence that seems to be stalking them and poses a physical and mental threat. The author does a great job at making you feel the characters physical exhaustion but on top of that, there's a heavy emotional layer to the group as they realize they have very little in common with the people they were closest to 15 years ago. Tensions build in every aspect and are beautifully written. The survival aspect felt really well done - I've been reading some exploration and survival non-fiction lately and this book felt pretty realistic.
Around the halfway point there were some scenes that I found genuinely scary and I regretted reading so late at night in a house surrounded by forest. Other people say the first half seems repetetive but I think drawing out the struggle works because you feel exhausted, confused, and scared alongside the characters.
Then you pass the halfway point and the story turns into basically a whole new story with almost entirely new characters. The tension, grit, and realism evaporates. I think the second half could have been interesting if it was a totally different story but we didn't need new antagonists. The forest, presence in the forest, and conflict amongst the friends was more effective. The second half is confusing, introduces characters and heightened violence that both feel cartoony and silly. The presence in the forest goes from being a huge threat to feeling like an accessory. The movie is actually way better, which is wild. Nevill also wrote a short story about a similar concept that is also more affective.
Its hard to critique completely without spoiling it so I will put the spoilers below.
And if you stop reading there, you'll be happy.
Luke awakens in a grimey bed surrounded by 3 weirdos (teenagers?) in masks and a weird old lady who kind of nurse him back to health with food and water while also treating him like garbage. The 3 people are in a black metal band who no one listens to and they want to be evil and badass. They're all semi-sadistic idiots who Luke doesn't take seriously and neither do we, as the readers. They want the old lady to call the forest god so they can sacrifice Luke and be more badass and evil? The creature just kind of stays away for quite awhile in this section, which is silly because it was meticulously stalking and lurking the whole first half. Luke wants to escape and go to a hospital, but these people wont let him leave. In the first half of the book it was established that Luke has anger issues that can lead to him snapping easily and going into violent frenzies. In the first half he had a good character arc with Dom in which he overcame his anger and chose the path of cooperation/teamwork, and compassion. The climax of the second half of the book involves Luke realizing he needs to kill the band members in order to escape but he also kind of sucks at fighting in this section. I think it could have been more effective if Dom or Phil was still alive and Luke unleashed his anger to save his friend. That message of being capable of violence to protect loved ones could have been powerful. Instead, he kills some of the bandmembers and the creature kills one of them. Then he kills the old lady (who has goat legs?) who has goat legs and also some weird ancient creature in the attic that made no sense to me. Then he drives away in a truck as the creature pursues him and he shoots the creature and walks out of the forest. Wtf.
So Luke started the book feeling alone and essentially ends it being alone but also kind of grateful for what little he does have, even though he's not even safe yet?
What the heck.
Adam Nevill is still one of my favorite horror authors but this one was frustrating because the first half was a 4-5 star read and then it plummeted to a 1. Makes it super hard to rate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death, and Stalking
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, Animal death, Classism, Bullying, Misogyny, and Body shaming
This book is more atmospheric than gory. There is some violence in the second half but its not nauseating by any means. Some characters die and their dead bodies are described. The characters are stalked by a creature/presence in the woods. The woods is scary. I don't think this book is graphic enough to really need content warnings.owlribbon's review
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Confinement, and Gore
Minor: Religious bigotry and Fatphobia
ggcd1981's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.75
Eu tinha interesse em ler os livros de Adam Nevill havia um tempo e tendo a perspectiva de assistir à adaptação para filme de The Ritual resolvi ler o livro antes. Em geral achei a obra uma sólida história de terror, porém com alguns problemas. Em primeiro lugar os personagens, os quais eram mais numerosos do que a sinopse deu a entender. Inicialmente se tem os 4 “amigos da universidade”, Luke, Hutch, Phil e Dom que após não se verem por alguns anos resolvem ir juntos em uma viagem pela natureza escandinava no Círculo Ártico, onde acabam tomando um atalho por uma floresta ancestral com entidades antigas e sinistras. Isso dá início ao pesadelo do grupo. Desses 4 personagens iniciais apenas Luke, e talvez um pouco Dom, são mais aprofundados. Luke é o protagonista e gostei dele como personagem, porém alguns diálogos combinados com a narração de David Thorpe fizeram o personagem em alguns momentos parecer choramingar muito, tendo longos momentos de auto piedade. Apesar de gostar de Luke esses elementos desgastaram um pouco o personagem para mim. Os personagens introduzidos na segunda metade do livro, Loki, Fenris, Surtr, e a velha (acredito que nenhum nome foi dado a ela no texto) foram bons vilões secundários, porém foram mal utilizados em alguns momentos. Isso me leva a atmosfera, que foi bastante eficiente em grande parte da narrativa. A floresta antiga e sombria, a impressão de que havia sempre algo os seguindo e os observando. A ideia de que havia todo um povo que servia o que quer que seja que estava na floresta e que a velha era a última desse povo foi assustadora. Contudo, houveram momentos em que o autor quebrou a atmosfera desnecessariamente, deixando a segunda metade do livro mais lenta e menos aterrorizante. Nevill escreveu longos diálogos entre Luke e Loki, entre Luke e Fenris, e até mesmo longos monólogos mentais para Luke. Todos estes fizeram a narrativa perder ritmo e se arrastar quebrando o clima de terror, pois se Luke estava tendo longas conversas racionais com seus captores a situação se torna mais mundana e menos sinistra e assustadora. O terror da metade final do livro teria sido mais eficiente se os diálogos, e no caso de Luke monólogos, tivessem sido mais diretos, menos prolixos. A escrita em geral foi boa, a não ser pelos problemas já citados (diálogos e monólogos longos e desnecessários). O enredo teve reviravoltas inesperadas. Confesso que a mudança de cenário da segunda parte da obra me surpreendeu. Do início ao meio da narrativa foi quando a história fluiu melhor, porém as sequências finais foram interessantes. O final foi cheio de ação apesar da cena de encerramento deixar a história em aberto. A lógica interna a história foi um pouco turva, poucas explicações foram dadas sobre o que era a entidade que caçava na floresta. Menções foram feitas a figura do demônio existente nas Religiões Cristãs, também foi dado o nome de Odin a entidade (apesar que não sei quão fiel é este livro as religiões nórdicas). Durante grande parte do tempo tive a impressão de que a entidade seria algo antigo que não necessariamente tinha um nome e os personagens humanos tentaram encaixa-la em figuras de religiões convencionais. Além disso porque este ser poupou Luke na floresta? Teria sido apenas para que a velha, Loki e os outros, após ter encontrado e trazido Luke para a antiga casa, o entregassem em sacrifício? Burocrática essa entidade. The Ritual teve momentos sólidos de terror e alguns momentos tediosos de diálogos. No geral foi, em maior parte, eficiente como uma história de terror. Dou 3.75 estrelas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Bullying, Death, Car accident, Kidnapping, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Sexism
corruptednatz's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Those poor 4 guys in the woods…they went through HELL. And I felt their pain. I knew the trip was screwed from the very beginning because the 2 unfit men hurt themselves. It was literally on page 5 😂 I also like how the monster in the woods like to decorate the trees with bodies like it Christmas. Very jolly. oh my god the way the monster took Hutch and Don will stick with me forever. It shocked me. It was quick and easy 😭</spoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Fatphobia, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Vomit
maggie_t's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Disclaimer: I will be discussing surface details without going into the nitty-gritty of the book.
Having watched the movie before reading, I personally think the first half of the book holds up better than the script, but the movie handles the latter half more coherently. Doesn’t necessarily take away from its reading value, just changes how it reads. Instead of a story about something inherent within the character/s or the baggage they carry it becomes more so an arena of uncaring hostiles forcing the characters through the grinder.
The author’s snide disdain for anything feminine or fat stains his writing. It goes beyond one or two character’s personal world view as it permeates the entire book. The main character often remarks on how feminine, or femininely beautiful, other male characters are; sometimes as out of pocket observations, other times with a sneering judgment that’s hard to miss. The fat characters are determined by the story as sweaty, wheezing losers, unpleasant companions that unjustly lash out against the main character due to bitterness of his “freedom”. The wives of the fat guys are then framed almost as ‘befitting’ partners to their unpleasantness: a depressed mother of a sickly child and an unstable gold-digger. And the fat girl doesn’t crop up without the author reminding you how her body looks, which he justifies as relevant because the girl is usually naked.
To his credits, he writes paranoia and that gut-drop sensation of realizing something is hiding in plain sight very well. Chapters with the monster are compelling and tense, with memorable moments of you catching up to the character as he realizes he’s not as alone as he seems. The conflict near the end (before the climax confrontation) is pretty satisfying to read, unlike other books that put the characters through hell with no vindication.
Overall I would have rated this higher had the author not imparted so much misogyny and fatphobia into this, but it was an easy fast read with some high points.
Having watched the movie before reading, I personally think the first half of the book holds up better than the script, but the movie handles the latter half more coherently. Doesn’t necessarily take away from its reading value, just changes how it reads. Instead of a story about something inherent within the character/s or the baggage they carry it becomes more so an arena of uncaring hostiles forcing the characters through the grinder.
The author’s snide disdain for anything feminine or fat stains his writing. It goes beyond one or two character’s personal world view as it permeates the entire book. The main character often remarks on how feminine, or femininely beautiful, other male characters are; sometimes as out of pocket observations, other times with a sneering judgment that’s hard to miss. The fat characters are determined by the story as sweaty, wheezing losers, unpleasant companions that unjustly lash out against the main character due to bitterness of his “freedom”. The wives of the fat guys are then framed almost as ‘befitting’ partners to their unpleasantness: a depressed mother of a sickly child and an unstable gold-digger. And the fat girl doesn’t crop up without the author reminding you how her body looks, which he justifies as relevant because the girl is usually naked.
To his credits, he writes paranoia and that gut-drop sensation of realizing something is hiding in plain sight very well. Chapters with the monster are compelling and tense, with memorable moments of you catching up to the character as he realizes he’s not as alone as he seems. The conflict near the end (before the climax confrontation) is pretty satisfying to read, unlike other books that put the characters through hell with no vindication.
Overall I would have rated this higher had the author not imparted so much misogyny and fatphobia into this, but it was an easy fast read with some high points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Misogyny, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Addiction, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia
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