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hokunani_sorci's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
janagaton's review
1.0
i dont even want to fucking think about this book anymore, but it felt like the movie Rent A Pal but make the dialogue 17000x more classic straight white man. def one of the worst books I've read of the year
viktoria_rosalynn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
marykendrick666_'s review against another edition
dark
funny
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
3.0
mlaimo's review
5.0
This one took me by surprise. It is extremely well written, dark, and clever. For me, there were no slow moments. The writing here is extremely enjoyable. A great creepy Clive Barker-esque tale.
princessdana36's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
There was not one likeable character in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Gore
Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma
lyc4nthropes's review
2.0
"the idiocy of the scene hit trent with a dull thud-but weren't so many tests, especially ones of manhood, kind of stupid when you rubbed down to the nub of it?
perfect for fans of movies like barbarian (2022) and men (also 2022) if your looking for yet another man's very shallow and very timid exploration into the depths of systemic patriarchy and toxic masculinity. this book tries to say something but no it doesn't yes it does it doesn't no actually yes wait no maybe ❤️
i wouldn't even take much of an issue with this at all if the book had committed to the premise it lays out in the very beginning. the reveal in the second half of the book was entirely unneeded and and ruins the book by muddling everything that came before it (you know, the stuff i actually liked). the only reason i can think of as to why this book went in the direction that it did was to give rita (the only woman) some kind of upper-hand, but it doesn't even really properly commit to that either. it just becomes very weak and messy. and if that's not the reason then i don't know what it was trying to accomplish. i kept trying to dig into any little moment in the later half of the book that could tie it back around to the first half, but i could never quite find enough to hang onto.
i think maybe this book tries to discuss misogyny, but i can't really be too sure, because it doesn't seem like it does, but it also seems like maybe it wanted to and then forgot. we focus entirely too much on trent and not near enough on what he's putting his family through by allowing his insecurities to be poked at and encouraged to rear their ugly heads by another man feeding into what trent believes to be his baser instincts as an upholder of masculinity. most of trent's beliefs stay put inside his own head because again this book doesn't really commit to anything it's trying to do. he smacks his kid around a few times for not being enough of a man at the ripe age of 9 years old, but that's about as far as that goes and even that felt as if it didn't happen immediately after it happened, if you know what i mean.
i guess i say all of this to say i needed this book to go farther, be more brutal than it was. i expected it to because nick cutter didn't really hold back with the troop, but something was holding him back here. i don't know anything about the co-author to say it was him, so i'll just say i have no idea what it was, but it's a shame. the premise of this book was sooo fucking good. it was so good, and i'm so mad that it tried to be more complicated than it ever needed to be and just came across as a giant mess as a result. i went in looking for a book that seemed as if it maybe wanted to make commentary on the dangers of alt-right internet pipelines that men so often are sucked into seemingly out of nowhere and so quickly that it's difficult to notice in time for their loved ones to drag them back out before they fall in too deep. i also thought we were gonna get a better exploration of the danger of children having unsupervised and unrestricted screen time from such a young age, but again the book never really committed to that either. milo (the child) is a much smaller part of the book than you're originally led to believe he is. but the book does start out this way. it starts out so promising, and then it takes this wild turn that i suppose was meant to shock and awe, but it just left me feeling vaguely disappointed. i could feel my investment in this book go up in a puff of smoke.
this book's biggest sin is that it's,as i said, a mess. it starts out so sure and structured and slowly devolves into something that feels as if it they'd decided to start writing something else instead. really sad about this one. my first nick cutter was such a game changer for me. i'd never really delved into the horror genre in book form despite it being my favorite movie genre for a long time, and then i read the troop and the rest was history. it took me a long time to pick up something else by him and i'm sad that it was something i didn't love.
also, i wanna ask nick cutter what kind of beef he has with turtles because that man hates those little creatures i fear 😭
perfect for fans of movies like barbarian (2022) and men (also 2022) if your looking for yet another man's very shallow and very timid exploration into the depths of systemic patriarchy and toxic masculinity. this book tries to say something but no it doesn't yes it does it doesn't no actually yes wait no maybe ❤️
i wouldn't even take much of an issue with this at all if the book had committed to the premise it lays out in the very beginning. the reveal in the second half of the book was entirely unneeded and and ruins the book by muddling everything that came before it (you know, the stuff i actually liked). the only reason i can think of as to why this book went in the direction that it did was to give rita (the only woman) some kind of upper-hand, but it doesn't even really properly commit to that either. it just becomes very weak and messy. and if that's not the reason then i don't know what it was trying to accomplish. i kept trying to dig into any little moment in the later half of the book that could tie it back around to the first half, but i could never quite find enough to hang onto.
i think maybe this book tries to discuss misogyny, but i can't really be too sure, because it doesn't seem like it does, but it also seems like maybe it wanted to and then forgot. we focus entirely too much on trent and not near enough on what he's putting his family through by allowing his insecurities to be poked at and encouraged to rear their ugly heads by another man feeding into what trent believes to be his baser instincts as an upholder of masculinity. most of trent's beliefs stay put inside his own head because again this book doesn't really commit to anything it's trying to do. he smacks his kid around a few times for not being enough of a man at the ripe age of 9 years old, but that's about as far as that goes and even that felt as if it didn't happen immediately after it happened, if you know what i mean.
i guess i say all of this to say i needed this book to go farther, be more brutal than it was. i expected it to because nick cutter didn't really hold back with the troop, but something was holding him back here. i don't know anything about the co-author to say it was him, so i'll just say i have no idea what it was, but it's a shame. the premise of this book was sooo fucking good. it was so good, and i'm so mad that it tried to be more complicated than it ever needed to be and just came across as a giant mess as a result. i went in looking for a book that seemed as if it maybe wanted to make commentary on the dangers of alt-right internet pipelines that men so often are sucked into seemingly out of nowhere and so quickly that it's difficult to notice in time for their loved ones to drag them back out before they fall in too deep. i also thought we were gonna get a better exploration of the danger of children having unsupervised and unrestricted screen time from such a young age, but again the book never really committed to that either. milo (the child) is a much smaller part of the book than you're originally led to believe he is. but the book does start out this way. it starts out so promising, and then it takes this wild turn that i suppose was meant to shock and awe, but it just left me feeling vaguely disappointed. i could feel my investment in this book go up in a puff of smoke.
this book's biggest sin is that it's,as i said, a mess. it starts out so sure and structured and slowly devolves into something that feels as if it they'd decided to start writing something else instead. really sad about this one. my first nick cutter was such a game changer for me. i'd never really delved into the horror genre in book form despite it being my favorite movie genre for a long time, and then i read the troop and the rest was history. it took me a long time to pick up something else by him and i'm sad that it was something i didn't love.
also, i wanna ask nick cutter what kind of beef he has with turtles because that man hates those little creatures i fear 😭
bbrown0526's review against another edition
1.0
I think….I hate this book. It was a great concept, but was so heavy handed. I wanted Ryan Reynolds shredded in the rain wearing only pajama pants while possessed in Amityville but got a messy Tubi horror movie instead.