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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
So I actually really loved this book! The ending was perfect IMO! Such a creepy read I wish we found out what happened with April though, we can just assume she was eaten but they never really wrapped it up. I loved the different chapters from people in the area getting eaten as well. I would have loved a back story of the monsters but I think it’s cool to leave it up for interpretation as well. Overall really enjoyed this one!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Monsters, secluded cabin in the winter, a group of old friends with old drama coming to the surface, what's not to like? This book really felt like the game Until Dawn, and I enjoyed that. Is it like every other creature feature in an isolated setting? Yes, but it's definitely a fun read.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hmm bad!! did not like!!
pros:
-cool premise and fun setting (snowed-in cabin in the woods, creepy forest vibes)
-intermittently creepy
cons:
-bad audiobook narrator (I know that narrators with low voices have to pitch them higher to imitate the higher voiced characters but it's cringey every single time sorry, and this dude was especially bad at it and did the weirdest accents for them)
-the immediate reveal of what the monsters look like totally takes away from the creepy vibes
-even though we're shown them immediately, the monsters are never explained (what species?? are they supposed to be wendigo type things?? etc)
-the characters were the typically shallow horror movie characters but at the same time were framed with lots of backstory like we were supposed to care about them? I hated them all so not only did I not care about them at all, the backstory got boring as hell to hear about. this shit also didn't pass the bechdel test even a little bit, all the women talked about was men and all the men talked about with the women WAS MEN, and occasionally **ooh scary monsters**
-the death scenes in between the main characters' scenes were unnecessary and didn't do anything to build tension - if anything, it felt like filler because the main story wasn't exciting enough to stand on its own. the scenes were also gruesome to the point of being gratuitous -- tell me why tf I was reading a scene about a man playing tug of war with a monster using his own intestines??? like that shit is just not needed at all
-the ending sucked, no closure at all and super annoying in general
I could imagine why someone might like this ig but I didn't!!!!!
pros:
-cool premise and fun setting (snowed-in cabin in the woods, creepy forest vibes)
-intermittently creepy
cons:
-bad audiobook narrator (I know that narrators with low voices have to pitch them higher to imitate the higher voiced characters but it's cringey every single time sorry, and this dude was especially bad at it and did the weirdest accents for them)
-the immediate reveal of what the monsters look like totally takes away from the creepy vibes
-even though we're shown them immediately, the monsters are never explained (what species?? are they supposed to be wendigo type things?? etc)
-the characters were the typically shallow horror movie characters but at the same time were framed with lots of backstory like we were supposed to care about them? I hated them all so not only did I not care about them at all, the backstory got boring as hell to hear about. this shit also didn't pass the bechdel test even a little bit, all the women talked about was men and all the men talked about with the women WAS MEN, and occasionally **ooh scary monsters**
-the death scenes in between the main characters' scenes were unnecessary and didn't do anything to build tension - if anything, it felt like filler because the main story wasn't exciting enough to stand on its own. the scenes were also gruesome to the point of being gratuitous -- tell me why tf I was reading a scene about a man playing tug of war with a monster using his own intestines??? like that shit is just not needed at all
-the ending sucked, no closure at all and super annoying in general
I could imagine why someone might like this ig but I didn't!!!!!
dark
mysterious
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:
No
I've given one of Ahlborn's books 5 stars and another one 2 star so I guess this being three/2.75 stars is expected. Overall, I liked it however I was not attached to the characters, but rather their drama which made what happened to them not impact me whatsoever. Like the drama between the friend groups was good, but that wasn't the point of reading it so it was kind of pointless. And minus the drama just the dialogue between characters especially in the first half is so unnecessary and set up absolutely nothing. Like I don't need an entire chapter of them all playing pool and eating chocolate cake. And I don't need another chapter of them just talking about nothing. I feel like this would've been much better as a novella where all of that is cut.
