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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
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:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
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
I enjoyed this for a while, but it eventually dragged on and was bogged down by repetitive writing and odd dialog choices. While Kyle and Dan were investigating the cult things were pretty spooky, but once the interviews were over things went downhill - especially once Nevill realized he needed to wrap things up and threw in a mysterious family who knew the complete backstory of the demons and suddenly there was a way to capture/kill them. Throw in a completely idiotic b-movie action ending (complete with one of the worst written characters ever - Jed) and the whole book becomes a waste of time. It's a damn shame because the beginning was pretty interesting.
Every single scene was so incredibly drawn out it was kind of impressive. There was nothing in this book that WASNT unnecessarily long and drawn out. This 500 book would have been a great 100 page book but here we are at 2 ⭐️ super disappointed after reading The Ritual
Another excellent novel from Adam Nevill. I know this book came well before The Reddening, but honestly this one had all of the things I liked about The Reddening without all of the slow pacing issues. Despite its 531 page run length I never found myself wishing it would hurry up and finish.
His worldbuilding in Last Days is phenomenal. Everything about the plot is believable: the brainwashing methods and details of the cult, the desperation of Kyle's career and his desire to make a name for himself, the questionable motives and meddling of Max, the intricate narrations of each interviewee, the descriptions of each filming location. My favorite portion of the book was definitely the first 1/3rd when Kyle and Dan visit Clarendon Road and Normandy. Nevill's horror talents are on full display as he details the creepy things seen and heard at both locations. It reminded me of the descriptions of the recordings, caves, and farm from The Reddening. There is a bit of an unforeseen tonal shift in the last chapter that didn't quite flow the same as the rest of the book, but it was still very good. It kind of went from creepy to action/thriller. I still liked the ending, though.
There are only two very small negatives I can mention. For one, the novel does get a bit long-winded in the section between the Arizona visit and the painting viewing. There's a lot of plot building that isn't so much entertaining as it is informative. You learn a lot about the history and background of the cult but nothing substantial happens. Second, the last chapter could have been significantly shorter if there hadn't been so many descriptive details written about the mansion. In the middle of the action I was skipping full paragraphs describing banisters and home trimmings.
Definitely a high recommendation. Of Nevill's other works, I'd rank this one just ever so slightly below The Ritual but well above The Reddening. I plan to revisit this one in the future.
His worldbuilding in Last Days is phenomenal. Everything about the plot is believable: the brainwashing methods and details of the cult, the desperation of Kyle's career and his desire to make a name for himself, the questionable motives and meddling of Max, the intricate narrations of each interviewee, the descriptions of each filming location. My favorite portion of the book was definitely the first 1/3rd when Kyle and Dan visit Clarendon Road and Normandy. Nevill's horror talents are on full display as he details the creepy things seen and heard at both locations. It reminded me of the descriptions of the recordings, caves, and farm from The Reddening. There is a bit of an unforeseen tonal shift in the last chapter that didn't quite flow the same as the rest of the book, but it was still very good. It kind of went from creepy to action/thriller. I still liked the ending, though.
There are only two very small negatives I can mention. For one, the novel does get a bit long-winded in the section between the Arizona visit and the painting viewing. There's a lot of plot building that isn't so much entertaining as it is informative. You learn a lot about the history and background of the cult but nothing substantial happens. Second, the last chapter could have been significantly shorter if there hadn't been so many descriptive details written about the mansion. In the middle of the action I was skipping full paragraphs describing banisters and home trimmings.
Definitely a high recommendation. Of Nevill's other works, I'd rank this one just ever so slightly below The Ritual but well above The Reddening. I plan to revisit this one in the future.
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really loved this one but like others have said, it could have been 200 pgs shorter. I devoured the first half of the book where they are recording the people who survived the cult. There were instances where I had to put the book down because it was so terrifying. A book hasn’t done that to me in years. But the middle to about 90%, I was bored and slogged along. The ending was good though. If this could have been edited a bit then it would have been one of my favorite books this year.