Reviews

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan

thebibliovile's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

usnebojemesa's review against another edition

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5.0

Završih ovo u 0:05 danas, znači, mogu li to i dalje računati kao prijašnji dan? *cerek*
WOW. JUST WOW(H).
Ovo je bila jedna genijalna knjiga, i jest strašna samo ne na taj proziran, već ispran način. Čitajući ovo osjetite strah i stravu kako se spuštaju niz vašu kožu jer čim pokušate zamisliti te demone, te vampire u svojim pravim oblicima... Knjige je i super miks naučne knjige uz svu tu realnu fantasy stranu jer ja sam naučila toliko toga a i opisi su bili toliko stvarni i tako detaljno strpljivo napisani, ah, ah.

toni1's review against another edition

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They want to give every little detail when describing things, think it could be cut by at least 100,150 pages

megc1701's review against another edition

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2.0

Honestly: disappointed. I had expected way more but it turns out del Torro only created the universe and left his cowriter to do all the filling out. Meh. It wasn't scary. It didn't make me stop and ponder the deep dark things of life. It was unfortunately predictable and a bit boring. The writing was good. And perhaps I just held too high of an expectation on.

qveenmab's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

the most disturbing thing in this book was eph skulling milk whenever he got stressed

goobearmilltato's review against another edition

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2.0

I think I only made it through this book because I was listening to the audiobook. As a story being told to me it was basically like I was watching a movie. If I had been sitting down reading it I think I would have groaned myself into submission. It's a pretty cliche story with lame stereotype characters and it seems like it would appeal more to the Boondock Saints-loving frat boys towards the end when there's a whole team of vampire hunters assembled. Still, it was entertaining enough to listen to, and I'll probably get the following sequels audiobooks as well for the same reason. If it is made into a movie -- and it sure seems like it was written with that exact intent -- it'll definitely be a good enough popcorn flick to warrant a ticket purchase. Just temper your expectations slightly.

midici's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a fast, fun read. It begins with what appears to be a dangerous, contained event that kills entire plane full of people. It ends with rampant vampirism throughout New York.

Ephraim Goodweather has a name that suggests he is some sort of wizard. Alas he is not; he's an employee of the CDC, part of project called Canary that deals with emerging infectious diseases. The confusion of his team gives way to horror as they realize that the victims might be dead - but the virus inside them is just awakening. And turning them into an undead nightmare. I suppose he's supposed to be the main character, but him and Nora are not nearly as entertaining as literally every other character.

I loved how all the side plots ended up converging, and for all of the somewhat cheesy moments, there are still some scary ones. The scenes of various people being changed by their family members were sad and scary. Particularly the one man who realized something was seriously wrong with himself and chained himself in a shed to protect his family.

Setrakian said "Think more along the lines of a man with a black cape. Fangs. Funny accent... Now take away the cape and the fangs. The funny accent. Take away anything funny about it."

I can't decide between which of the characters are my favourite, but it's a toss up between Abraham Setrakian, concentration camp survivor turned vampire hunter; or Gus who's so much of a badass he's kidnapped by an opposing group of vampires to be their pet daytime hunter.

Setrakian gets all the cool lines like: You think that you are drafting me into your cause. The truth of the matter is, I am drafting you into mine.

Gus, who sees what he believes are a group of vampire hunters and excitedly exclaims "sign me the fuck up" is unfortunately taken at his word. I honestly hope he gets away at some point in the next book, I'm definitely worried about him.

Fet, the rat catcher, is a close second in his practical application of rodent hunting to vampire killing. Fet does not lose his cool in emergency vampire killing situations, which is a good quality to have.

stormnangel1's review against another edition

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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? No

1.0

read_nap_repeat's review

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0