Reviews

So, so, SO creepy, horrifying, dark, and GOOD. I love how realistic the detail is. You feel every injury the man sustains. You are dehydrated right along with him. When he finally gets water, it's as welcome as if you were the one drinking it.

This book is twisty and nonstop terror. I know some will never want to camping after reading this, but I oddly enough want to take up backpacking because of this book...

bonafidefaygo's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This was immensely disappointing for me. As someone who's frightened of deep woods, camping/hiking, and deep isolation in nature, I should've found this scarier.

I found the main character/narrator to be insufferable. Like, okay, so you find out your wife cheated on you so you're logical step is to go on a three week hike?? I guess people do it, but then add on that i didn't like his voice. Also there's literally a part where he's talking about a woman getting harassed in a store and literally says he doesn't need to step in because "she's a strong independent woman" 🤢

But I can forgive an unlikeable/unrelatable character and the weird nature horror was good in the first bit so I continued. And it just got progressively more disappointing with everything. Like it really jumped the shark, and I say that as someone who enjoys cosmic horror a LOT but it just felt poorly executed to me and I HATED the conclusion. Like so, so much. How are we gonna wrap everything up in a nice little bow after everything without any discussion of repercussions.

This did have potential though, and I think it would be some people's cup of tea. I think it would've been vastly improved if it was significantly shorter and far more ambiguous.

lord_lut's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

pillywiggin's review

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

3.0

I really liked the premise of this story. However, I always prefer supernatural scariness, and this got way to gory for me. If gore does not bother you, you will enjoy this book.

kyrajanson's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

ryanandrew23's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

adamsfall's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

While everyone was out there last week talking about a certain wilderness horror novel (I read that one too and the review will hit later this week) — I was filling in my backlist reading with The Woodkin by Alexander James.

Once again, I was notified of this book’s existence by @talkingscaredpod

I had purchased it immediately after hearing the episode but kept putting off reading it. You know how the TBR list can get away from you.

The Woodkin is everything I loved about the ending of The Ritual by Adam Nevill and an incredible infinitely better version of Hunted Beyond Reason by Richard Matheson. I love the outdoors as a concept and this novel proves why I choose to spend most of my time admiring the outdoors from afar.

A brilliant examination of how running as far away from one’s problems as you can will eventually lead to a loss of one’s own identity.

4/5 ⭐️

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