Reviews

It's amazing how different a book and movie based on the same story can be. I had read this book years ago before I even knew that a movie was adapted from it. Years later I watched the movie and didn't make the connection until a couple of years ago. The movie is a trippy mess and the book is an overly bundle of cool horror and lame romance that was hampered by the bad pacing.

trayslays's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

gizmokanread's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

2.25

itsa_mario's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

katesmiles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

2.75

dollcoven's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

2.5

On my edition of the book Peter Straub has a blurb on the cover: "It has true fear in it."

Is the fear in the room with us right now? Cause I did not feel any of this supposed fear while I was reading the book.

This book had some strong ideas that were completely bogged down by a slow narrative, multiple povs of the characters (there's not anything inherently wrong with that but in this book, it was a problem) and other ridiculous shit. Don't even get me started on the love story between the hero and heroine. Jesus. I'm glad to be done with this.

thewallflower00's review against another edition

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3.0

A horror novel from the 1980s that’s not Stephen King. I didn’t think such a thing existed.

The introduction isn’t enticing, and it’s a product of its time. We start with a prologue containing characters that don’t show up again until the 33% mark. Every character, every building gets a physical description, especially when they don’t need one. They’re all 1940’s German — everyone’s going to look the same.

It’s okay. In the middle, it starts delivering the promise of the premise. The author avoids a sludgy middle by introducing new characters and some plot twists, as opposed to keeping the mystery boxes locked and stringing the reader along. It would make a pretty good movie–I love seeing Nazis killed in horrific ways by a monster, especially when most times the Nazis are the monster (Overlord, Dead Snow, Puppet Master, Hellboy).

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