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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
This book has a really cool premise, but I think it could have been executed better in a technical sense. The dialogue felt unrealistic — unrealistic enough for me to notice and stop in several spots and think, “who talks like that?” I also think the book is incredibly repetitive in its actions. It feels like in every chapter someone is bleeding and vomiting. The book is gorey from its first pages, so obviously there’s going to be some blood, but it seems like all the characters do is bleed and vomit. I also found most of the “flashback” chapters to be lacking. They gave me just enough to understand what was happening, but I would have liked a little more. I think the writing style in and of itself flows very well, though. There were some truly great gore scenes, and the book definitely has some scary moments. I think everything comes together nicely plot-wise. All in all a scary but satisfying read.
dark
tense
medium-paced
This book is not as creepy as I had hoped. It gives off The Shining meets Blair Witch Project vibes for me but it was still a great read. It makes it almost worse knowing the fates of most everyone ahead of time because you know what is going to happen. It's hard to root for the character when you know their fate. There's a sense of dread as you go through the pages and know "so and so" isn't getting out alive.
There were some background stories and characters that I wish it went into a little more for context and story but overall, this is definitely one of my favorite horror novels.
There were some background stories and characters that I wish it went into a little more for context and story but overall, this is definitely one of my favorite horror novels.
dark
mysterious
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
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
i cannot express how strong of a start this had and how steeply downhill it went from there. i just felt like it couldn’t keep up with how good the opening chapter was—almost like the premise, inspiration and set-up were trusted to be enough to keep you reading and actually telling the story wasn’t all that important. which, to be fair, did work on me.
at times it honestly seemed like two authors were writing this and switching off paragraph by paragraph, with one of them having a good grip on the rhythm and voice while the other floundered in simile soup trying to stay above water. the flashback chapters were a slog and sort of felt like overcompensation that was added later to try and make you care. there was all this hype and mystery in the first few chapters and the limp, half-reveal of what was going on was pretty bland. as someone very interested in the dyatlov pass incident, which i believe this book was based on, this book didn’t serve it at all.
really, though, it had some of the best opening few chapters of any book i’ve ever read. i wish the rest of it held up.
at times it honestly seemed like two authors were writing this and switching off paragraph by paragraph, with one of them having a good grip on the rhythm and voice while the other floundered in simile soup trying to stay above water. the flashback chapters were a slog and sort of felt like overcompensation that was added later to try and make you care. there was all this hype and mystery in the first few chapters and the limp, half-reveal of what was going on was pretty bland. as someone very interested in the dyatlov pass incident, which i believe this book was based on, this book didn’t serve it at all.
really, though, it had some of the best opening few chapters of any book i’ve ever read. i wish the rest of it held up.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 ⭐️ - It’s a bit slow. All of the characters are very unlikeable. I do like the juxtaposition of the current timeline with past time periods of other lives being affected by the valley. I just expected more for the plot. The beginning started out strong with a glimpse of the present and all the gore, but everything leading up to it was so frustratingly disappointing!
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
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
HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK IS SOOOOO CREEPY!!!!! Was gonna give this book something in the range of 3 stars, but the ending made it all worth it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism