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akevaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Self harm, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Excrement
jwmeyer86's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement
rivercat0338's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Self harm, Blood, Death, Gore, and Confinement
Moderate: Excrement, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
doomluz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75
Interesting horror novel. Really good body horror. The characters are ok.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Minor: Cannibalism
lovelydeadgirl's review against another edition
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Vomit
Minor: Cannibalism
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Horror Summer Camp Book Club / June Pick
The Details:
Narrated by Patrick Wilson
Unabridged
I really wanted to take part in this group read so for the first time, I purchased more credits!
This was a fun read. Once we got into the meat of the horror, it had me in mind of the Day of the Triffids. I think I'd be interested in reading more plant based horror.
The body horror was quite grim (in a good way), but I didn't find that it made my stomach turn or had me feeling nauseated.
There were no distinct chapters, which made it hard to pause but helped to amplify the blurred lines of time as terror set in for the characters.
The characters themselves weren't very likeable but felt believable for the most part, though some feeling more 2D (or more caricatures of a person) than others. I think my favourites were Matthias and Pablo.
I don't think this will be a strong story that would be very memorable long term, for me, but it was fun for whilst I was listening, I'd recommend it to others and I'd be interested in giving the movie adaptation a go.
The Details:
Narrated by Patrick Wilson
Unabridged
I really wanted to take part in this group read so for the first time, I purchased more credits!
This was a fun read. Once we got into the meat of the horror, it had me in mind of the Day of the Triffids. I think I'd be interested in reading more plant based horror.
The body horror was quite grim (in a good way), but I didn't find that it made my stomach turn or had me feeling nauseated.
There were no distinct chapters, which made it hard to pause but helped to amplify the blurred lines of time as terror set in for the characters.
The characters themselves weren't very likeable but felt believable for the most part, though some feeling more 2D (or more caricatures of a person) than others. I think my favourites were Matthias and Pablo.
I don't think this will be a strong story that would be very memorable long term, for me, but it was fun for whilst I was listening, I'd recommend it to others and I'd be interested in giving the movie adaptation a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Gore, Gaslighting, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Grief, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Abandonment
Minor: Cannibalism
dandaloriian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement
zakcebulski's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
How scary can vines be? That was my thought upon reading some reviews about this book. I can attest that vines can be, absolutely, 100% shit your pants terrifying.
The Ruins by Scott Smith is a story about a group of American tourists- Jeff, Amy, Stacy and Eric, who travel to Mexico as one last hurrah before adventuring in to their lives of med school and other adult commitments. While in Cancun they meet a German tourist- Mathias who mentions that his brother Heinrich traveled with an archaeologist group inland to a dig site, but he's not heard back from him. As well, the group befriends three Greek tourists who go by Latin names rather than their real names.
The group opts to do some sightseeing while helping Mathias locate his brother, which turns out to be one of the fucking worst decisions that they could make.
They travel inland and eventually find the location of the digsite, which is on a path that is clearly attempted to be hidden by the locals. This is after many many people tell them to fuck off and not to look for this site- well, being Americans, they know better and opt to pursue the site.
Upon arriving, they are swarmed by a group of Mayans armed with guns and bows and arrows who force them on to the ruinous hill of this area- a quarantine of sorts
Many events occur quickly, not limited to finding Heinrich's corpse riddled with arrows, finding an old shaft which Pablo (one of the Greeks) goes to explore, but the rope was eaten away- he falls and breaks his back.
This is when Jeff springs in to action. Jeff is shown and illustrated to be a very resourceful- to the point of overstepping- individual who establishes himself as the de facto leader of the group. He constructs a back board, which helps Eric to get Pablo out of the pit. However, upon the evacuation Eric is injured with a shard of broken glass slashing in to his leg.
As they sit there, Jeff starts to ration out their food, which is a great idea.
Gradually the group starts to notice that there are vines which are very close to the, or seem to move, one even gets in to Eric's leg wound. Now, this is a fucking fantastic way to start the build up of the vines- they are shown to move in such ways that can play tricks on the minds of the survivors to the point where they don't even trust their own thoughts.
I have to praise Scott Smith's patience in his writing, the feeling of dread throughout this book is fantastically established. We know that something is wrong, but, the cause of it is gradually revealed moment by moment and bit by bit until the fucking dam breaks and all hell comes with it.
Now, this book takes place over about a 48 hour period. When I first started reading this book I was shocked at the length of this book, and admittedly, when I was reading I thought "surely this can't justify its length? Being stuck somewhere and surviving for 2 days?" But it absolutely does. I was fascinated and enthralled by every aspect of this book. I really liked how some characters like Jeff and Mathias were immediately shown to be resourceful and be aware of the severity of their situation, while others like Eric and Amy and Stacy didn't take things as seriously.
Throughout their ordeal the vines gradually become more and more aggressive and blunt with their aggression. They eventually converge on Pablo's legs and, when the vines are removed, reveal that they had consumed much of his flesh and muscle. This eventually leads to an extremely brutal scene wherein Jeff and Mathias amputate both of Pablo's legs- it is fucking tough to read.
One thing that I really liked about this book is how some characters are illustrated as being very smart- which is atypical to horror entertainment, while some are more in line with the red shirts we would typically see.
This is shown when Jeff takes point and explores the shaft looking for a cell phone that he and the group hear coming from the shaft. Upon venturing in to find the phone he realizes that the vines are actually mimicking the sound of the phone and were trying to lead him in to a trap- not dissimilar to what happened to Pablo.
See, the vines are smart and adaptable. The vines actually laid some of its corrosive sap on to the rope, which led to Pablo falling and breaking his back- it is a truly scary reality to see.
As the vine's existence becomes more apparent there are some truly scary scenes like when the vines begin to mimic things that the people have said in an effort to turn the survivors against each other.
It also goes on to taunt the characters throughout by asking where people are, and by telling them that the people are already dead. It is some truly creepy stuff, and I think that Smith does a fantastic job with some scary writing.
One thing that is absolutely necessary to talk about is the body horror that takes place in this book. There are scenes which illustrate the mutilation of bodies, legs amputated and cauterized with a hot castiron pan, Eric is paranoid and scared that a vine is in him and he uses a knife to cut into himself to extract it- and none of this is left to imagination. It is some truly brutal writing and it is stomach churningly described.
Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed a lot is how the reason for the vine and the Mayans forced quarantine of these people is not written to make us hate the Mayans. It is evident that the Mayans are not happy having to hold people there while the vines kills them, but, it is also clear that this has been done before, and if people who contacted the vine and left the quarantine zone, the vine would be spread- they are trying to save the world.
I would wager a guess that this book is a metaphor for tourists who travel to different parts of the world and don't respect the cultures wherein they visit. This is something that we have seen time and again where people travel to different parts of the world and disrespect cultures. That is at least the lense which I am choosing to view this book through.
Lastly, I have to commend the author with going with the bleak as fuck ending that this book has. I mean, all of the main cast of characters die in increasinly violent and horrific ways. I think that that is how I can describe this book- horrific. I mean, Amy and Pablo are smothered by vines just feet away from people. Mathias is stabbed by a psychotic and paranoid Eric, Stacy kills herself. It is fucking brutal and heartwrenching, especially when the last paragraph explains that the Greeks (Juan and Don Quixote) arrived three days later. This was a running discussion throughout the book "when will the Greeks arrive to save us?". But, they arrive and the story ends with the characters being ahead of the horseman who is there to stop them, meaning the cycle must begin again.
Holy shit, what a fucking read. This book was so easy to read and so enjoyable for those who love horror, I am pleasantly pleased to have picked this up on a lark.
We are lucky to live in a time when Scott Smith writes horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Violence, Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Suicide, Medical content, and Body horror
seanml's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Things just get worse and worse and worse. Smith's prose is simple enough to rope you in, but there is always a morbid undertone to everything. The simple and blunt descriptions of extreme horrors and mutilations make them feel even more sinister. If you want something that feels completely hopeless, try the Ruins. 8/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Vomit, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide
Minor: Cannibalism and Excrement
taylorlanxon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Torture, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Death, Dysphoria, and Medical content