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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When I started this book I thought I'd rate it lower because it's basically like a monster movie. That being said I really enjoyed it. I find myself thinking about this book a lot even a month later.
I was wavering between 2 and 3 stars as the book went on, mainly due to my disappointment that it wasn't as good as Until Dawn (and I was led to this book based on a comparison to that game), and because all of the characters are just so unlikable that it's hard to care when they start getting picked off. And I really don't like novels without one likable character (though the dog was likable, I suppose).
But I liked the ending. It's grim, which feels fitting after reading about a bunch of a-holes making the dumbest decisions lol I also quite like Ania Ahlborn's writing style as well. This is my first novel of hers and I'm likely to read more of her work now. She really set up the atmosphere quite well - you can really feel the cold, the wet, the disgust, the hunger... the whole setting was right up my alley, and wintery/forest-y horror is some of my favorite!
Overall it was decent, even if I hated the characters. I normally dnf books without a single likable character so I think the fact I finished this one is a good sign. Just don't go into this thinking you're getting more of Until Dawn, if that's what led you here like it did me!
But I liked the ending. It's grim, which feels fitting after reading about a bunch of a-holes making the dumbest decisions lol I also quite like Ania Ahlborn's writing style as well. This is my first novel of hers and I'm likely to read more of her work now. She really set up the atmosphere quite well - you can really feel the cold, the wet, the disgust, the hunger... the whole setting was right up my alley, and wintery/forest-y horror is some of my favorite!
Overall it was decent, even if I hated the characters. I normally dnf books without a single likable character so I think the fact I finished this one is a good sign. Just don't go into this thinking you're getting more of Until Dawn, if that's what led you here like it did me!
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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:
Yes
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
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:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Going to a 3.5 for this fun fast-paced horror ride. To me, it reads like an above-ground The Descent. In place of the deeper relationships of that film, you get substantial ones that are just fleshed out enough to make you care for who lives and who may not.
It always seems brave to me when an author kills their darlings. Ania does it well, and has some method in her approach that keeps her from telegraphing. She uses lots of tropes, but not without original takes - and I wager she's an honest horror fan b/c a lot of her apparent inspirations are quality ones. It would make a pretty good movie, and it makes a good homage to one-off just-for-fun horror movies, and the reams of fun speedy horror novels that populated grocery and drug store shelves a few decades ago.
There are a couple of technical problems, like the the mechanics of regular folks making torches that they expect to last 4-6hrs at a time (if not a day or more), using table legs tee shirts and gasoline - - and some natural science angles involving woodland food sources.
I read this as a December book club choice (that ran all-too-long for me, because my life is stupidly storm-tossed these days/years), and was glad to have had it as a celebration of Winter. A remarkable number of readers don't want bad things to happen to dogs, it's a sacred situation that readers lose all perspective with, so I'll finish this sentence without elaborating or spoiling anything.
Add to your snowy-season reading pile. Especially if you ski or snowboard, and you want some lodge reading :)
It always seems brave to me when an author kills their darlings. Ania does it well, and has some method in her approach that keeps her from telegraphing. She uses lots of tropes, but not without original takes - and I wager she's an honest horror fan b/c a lot of her apparent inspirations are quality ones. It would make a pretty good movie, and it makes a good homage to one-off just-for-fun horror movies, and the reams of fun speedy horror novels that populated grocery and drug store shelves a few decades ago.
There are a couple of technical problems, like the the mechanics of regular folks making torches that they expect to last 4-6hrs at a time (if not a day or more), using table legs tee shirts and gasoline - - and some natural science angles involving woodland food sources.
I read this as a December book club choice (that ran all-too-long for me, because my life is stupidly storm-tossed these days/years), and was glad to have had it as a celebration of Winter. A remarkable number of readers don't want bad things to happen to dogs, it's a sacred situation that readers lose all perspective with, so I'll finish this sentence without elaborating or spoiling anything.
Add to your snowy-season reading pile. Especially if you ski or snowboard, and you want some lodge reading :)
mysterious
tense
fast-paced