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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3.5/5. Last chapter was too long to give a satisfying ending. I was dragging the last 75 pages.
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I love cult horror and I've been dying to read a Nevill book for a while because I've heard so many good things. I'm kind of mixed on how I feel about this book. I loved the first half. It genuinely read like a horror movie to me. I even had a jump scare in there at one point where I was reading super late at night in the dark and I was like "aaah help" but then the book just kept going... and going... and going.
I don't think this needed to be over 500 pages long. It took me forever to read. At some point I just wanted it to end so I could see what happened, but I wasn't actually enjoying the process of reading it anymore.
I love cult horror and I've been dying to read a Nevill book for a while because I've heard so many good things. I'm kind of mixed on how I feel about this book. I loved the first half. It genuinely read like a horror movie to me. I even had a jump scare in there at one point where I was reading super late at night in the dark and I was like "aaah help" but then the book just kept going... and going... and going.
I don't think this needed to be over 500 pages long. It took me forever to read. At some point I just wanted it to end so I could see what happened, but I wasn't actually enjoying the process of reading it anymore.
this book started out SOOOOOO strong, and then just drops the ball. the first third is so engaging, the author is so descriptive with scenery, nothing is left for the imagination. the story is so good, the suspense is killer, everything is going so well and then it just loses it. the last third goes off into this new weird and unbelievable path, and the ending becomes so weird, you have to stop and wonder how you ended up here.
This scared the living hell out of me several times. I stopped reading for the night and walked into my dark bedroom and felt extremely unsettled on my first reading session. I was not a huge fan of the tonal shift in The Ritual so I was hesitant to give this book a shot but I am glad I did. It was the scariest book I’ve read for a long time(maybe ever?)
If this book had ended around page 300, it would have been AMAZING. Instead, there were 200 more pages of explanation that I simply could not care less about, an ending that I didn’t particularly care for, and a cliff hanger that was super boring.
The first 300 pages of cult interviews, mysterious hauntings, eerie vibes, etc. was legit unsettling. I was spooked and I loved it. I really didn’t feel like there was a need to find explanation for the evil big bad things, which would have been scarier if they hadn’t been explained away. Five stars for the first 300 pages, but the absolute slog of a second half pulled this down to two stars overall for me.
The first 300 pages of cult interviews, mysterious hauntings, eerie vibes, etc. was legit unsettling. I was spooked and I loved it. I really didn’t feel like there was a need to find explanation for the evil big bad things, which would have been scarier if they hadn’t been explained away. Five stars for the first 300 pages, but the absolute slog of a second half pulled this down to two stars overall for me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.75 stars
I was immediately pulled in by this story from the very first page and despite its page count it kept me very engaged. This is probably the top 3 scariest books I’ve ever read and the imagery was so vivid I was honestly scared to sleep at night LOL. I loved how fleshed out and detailed the lore and backstory of the cult was, it felt so real and this would make an amazing limited series. The depth was also to its detriment at times when you have to read pages of exposition and it disrupts the narrative tension. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while and might be convinced to read this author’s other books.
I was immediately pulled in by this story from the very first page and despite its page count it kept me very engaged. This is probably the top 3 scariest books I’ve ever read and the imagery was so vivid I was honestly scared to sleep at night LOL. I loved how fleshed out and detailed the lore and backstory of the cult was, it felt so real and this would make an amazing limited series. The depth was also to its detriment at times when you have to read pages of exposition and it disrupts the narrative tension. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while and might be convinced to read this author’s other books.
This is a legitimately scary book. It takes a lot for a book to really scare me. The first was The Shining, which I read in junior high and had to physically remove from my room before I'd go to bed.
This wasn't quite as scary as that but it was still an excellent read.
The main character is Kyle, a documentary filmmaker who has fallen on some hard times. He is kinda desperate for work and so he takes on a project about a notorious cult that started in the late 60s and imploded in spectacular fashion less than 10 years later.
Shit starts getting weird & scary almost right away. The descriptions of the "ghosty" things are extremely vivid and horrifying. Kyle's dread is evident and adds to the overall feeling of unease.
I actually didn't mind the Kyle character, although I've read others on here found him whiny and annoying. I guess I cut him a lot of slack because he was just trying to follow his dream and ended up getting completely screwed.
As others have said, the ending was not awesome but I certainly can't think of a better way to end it.
This wasn't quite as scary as that but it was still an excellent read.
The main character is Kyle, a documentary filmmaker who has fallen on some hard times. He is kinda desperate for work and so he takes on a project about a notorious cult that started in the late 60s and imploded in spectacular fashion less than 10 years later.
Shit starts getting weird & scary almost right away. The descriptions of the "ghosty" things are extremely vivid and horrifying. Kyle's dread is evident and adds to the overall feeling of unease.
I actually didn't mind the Kyle character, although I've read others on here found him whiny and annoying. I guess I cut him a lot of slack because he was just trying to follow his dream and ended up getting completely screwed.
As others have said, the ending was not awesome but I certainly can't think of a better way to end it.
i’m sad :// i thought this was gonna be a lot better. if it had stopped at the 50% mark it would’ve been a different story. for such a long book there was a lotttt left unsaid. it felt overwritten and yet under planned
I really wish I could give this a 3.5 instead of a 3 or a 4... most appropriate rating for how I feel about it. The novel starts off very strong. First 50-60%, even, is lushly written and full of effective, creepy atmosphere. Then something changes in the effectiveness, in the immersion. It just kind of peters off and doesn't ever end up coming back in any big way. The trip to Antwerp was a nice little chunk later in the book, then the ending feels like it was written for Hollywood instead of a horror novel. Glad I read this, but ultimately not as happy with it overall as I was hoping to be.