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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
After reading this and the Ritual, I've come to one conclusion: Adam Nevill sure knows how to write an excellent first half of a book.
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
I feel like this book was made for me - mixing religious cults, documentary film and supernatural horror?? All you have to do is throw in a unicorn or a sloth and I'd never have to read anything else ever again. Can't wait to discuss it with my horror reading group. Total banger. :-D
tense
Definitely had some creepy moments. But it kept flip-flopping between parts I enjoyed and parts I didn't. The writing was sort of confusing at some points to me as well. I like the story overall but it's definitely not something I'd read again.
At the end of reading this book I was left with an overwhelming sense of....ehhh.
The premise is great - a documentary filmmaker documenting a 70s cult that ended in murder/suicide? With paranormal elements? Sounds interesting! The first third of the book definitely carried that thread through. But as you read, you start realizing that everything was revealed in the first chunk of the book; there's nothing new or exciting in the middle of the novel. Then, all of a sudden, there's a MASSIVE narrative dump that could have been interesting if there had been any hint of it in the beginning of the book. But it came out of nowhere. An edit of roughly 200 pages would have been very beneficial for this book.
Also, I didn't really find this book scary. At all. There were definitely elements that were supposed to be scary, but they just didn't resonate with me I guess.
Despite that, I did keep reading, and I was interested in seeing how it would end. There does seem to be a possibility for a potential continuation, which I would be interested in reading, although I don't think that it's likely to happen.
The premise is great - a documentary filmmaker documenting a 70s cult that ended in murder/suicide? With paranormal elements? Sounds interesting! The first third of the book definitely carried that thread through. But as you read, you start realizing that everything was revealed in the first chunk of the book; there's nothing new or exciting in the middle of the novel. Then, all of a sudden, there's a MASSIVE narrative dump that could have been interesting if there had been any hint of it in the beginning of the book. But it came out of nowhere. An edit of roughly 200 pages would have been very beneficial for this book.
Also, I didn't really find this book scary. At all. There were definitely elements that were supposed to be scary, but they just didn't resonate with me I guess.
Despite that, I did keep reading, and I was interested in seeing how it would end. There does seem to be a possibility for a potential continuation, which I would be interested in reading, although I don't think that it's likely to happen.
2 film makers investigate the demonic properties of suspicious wall stains. There's a cult, flying dogs, beer and poor diets. There might be a slight problem with pacing and it might be a little bit too long, but I really enjoyed it, loved the ending. The found footagey First half is 5/5 2nd half is a 4/5 because it does ramble on a bit, all of it is insanely mad.
slow-paced
Does a great job of building horror in the first half. It really slowed down for me in the second half and felt like it kind of went off the rails, even though the actual story definitely picked up speed.