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ukamushu_the_bibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, starvation, contagion, animal abuse, children in danger, death of children, underage drinking, abandonment
"Do you know how hard it is to kill something? Nothing wants to die. Things cling to their lives against all hope, even when it's hopeless. It's like the end is always there, you can't escape it, but things try so, so hard not to cross that finish line. So when they finally do, everything's been stripped away. Their bodies and happiness and hope. Things just don't know when to die. I wish they did. I wish my friends had known that. Sort of, anyway. But I'm glad they tried. That's part of being human, right? Part of being any living thing. You hold on to life until it gets ripped away from you. Even if it gets ripped away in pieces. You just hold on."
"Do you know how hard it is to kill something? Nothing wants to die. Things cling to their lives against all hope, even when it's hopeless. It's like the end is always there, you can't escape it, but things try so, so hard not to cross that finish line. So when they finally do, everything's been stripped away. Their bodies and happiness and hope. Things just don't know when to die. I wish they did. I wish my friends had known that. Sort of, anyway. But I'm glad they tried. That's part of being human, right? Part of being any living thing. You hold on to life until it gets ripped away from you. Even if it gets ripped away in pieces. You just hold on."
Um, wow.
This was the first book to leave me genuinely speechless. I struggled to form words. My mind was rocked and blown and decimated. I don't typically gravitate towards horror literature (I actually straight-up avoid it), but this was recommended to me as part of a reverse-buddy read with one of my dearest Bookstagram friends. To say it was a wildly fun experience would be a gross understatement.
"The Troop" follows a set of boy scouts and their scoutmaster as they go through what was supposed to be a regular-degular weekend-long field trip a remote island off the coast of their homeland to earn some badges. A strange man who literally devours anything and everything shows up to their island, however, and what follows is the most intense bone-chilling 350-page adventure I have ever read. We follow them as they navigate the island trying to survive, as they reflect on what it means to be a kid vs an adult in this world, and if adults really are as mature and knowledgeable as they claim to be.
What really makes the book stand out to me is the reflective nature of it. I'm, again, not a horror lit buff, but from conversations with my friend I was able to glean that horror books really take your mind on a deep, introspective guide into some complicated facets of humanity, society, and reality. It's wild. This book was wild. The societal critiques were strong, accurate, and powerful. "The Troop" truly makes you realize that parental responsibility is no joke, and children go through so much and absorb so much from our society. It also points out that the saying, "They're just kids," is bullshit -- because kids hear, and learn, and often see and understand things adults don't and/or completely ignore. Additionally, the book also had commentary on what happens when we forget the inherent dignity of humanity in others, what happens when we focus to hard on "the whole" or "what's best for society" and forget or ignore the individuals that make up that whole, the people who form society? The story answers that question very, very well, in my opinion. And rightfully delivers some beautifully obliterating dialogues.
The book is incredibly well-written. I love how clearly I could see that Nick Cutter did some intense research. As someone whose field of study is Biomedical Biology, a lot of things in the book made genuine plausible sense to me, and that's not something that happens often. I have to give credit where credit is due. The sentence constructions were immaculate and vivid. I was and am simply blown away by how good this was.
Some things that got me really hard were the scenes of animal cruelty. I couldn't read them. From what I have seen in some online discussion forums and reviews, many people couldn't too. Also, as I learned from my friend, horror books with children is somewhat taboo these days (these are children, after all), and I can see how and why. It's...mentally painful, to say the least, and I fully understand how and why that would affect people. So, if graphic descriptions of animal abuse, torture and death are not for you, and/or if you would rather not read a horror book that focuses on children, I would highly advise you to skip this book. I believe Nick Cutter has some other stellar works in his arsenal that you can definitely check out if you want to experience his talent.
All that being said, this book was an experience. It flung open doors I would have simply walked past. I no longer scroll past horror or thriller books, but instead pause to check them out. In doing so, I have seen descriptions and reviews of books that also involve deep dives into the inner facets of humanity and society, books that use the scary and the creepy and the downright disgusting to provide insights into elements and themes that deserve to be spoken of and written about with intention. I'm really happy I was able to experience this book.
So, in conclusion, wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Medical content, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Drug abuse
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