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tome's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I don't often read things in one sitting anymore, but this book transfixed me unlike any other. The ambiguity, the viscerality, the perspective, all of it left me utterly engrossed. I'm gonna have to sit with this one for a bit. Also, as a note, some of the trigger warnings added are, to some extent, dependent on what conclusion you make of the ambiguity. I've added them just in case.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, Hate crime, and Vomit
Moderate: Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
djwinn1364's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Gore
melsage1823's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A Tense Home Invasion That Falls Flat By The End.
After seeing the movie I very much was looking forward to checking out the book and to me it only half delivered, the movie is way better. Shyamalan may have been a coward for excluding the death that happens in this book but at least it was a lot clearer in the message it was trying to give. The first quarter and half of this book was absolutely fantastic as I love psychological horror novels and this one definitely messed with me. The desperation of the Invaders was heartbreaking to read.
Even the slower parts of the book are disturbing. Every page makes you uncomfortable and that's what a good horror novel should do. It's the perfect length and the perfect pace. It also has a really good basic structure. I've only rated it lower because of the last quarter of the book. Truly if it wasn't for that last quarter this would a hundred percent be another five star. It normalises a healthy lgtbq+ family despite the fact the same family has to deal with invaders and the apocalypse.
This novel is definitely one that has an even number of flaws and strengths. Its one I'd recommend you to make your own decision.
So with that being said let's go into the flaws.
First the fact that it leans into the Bury Your Gays trope, I know it's a horror novel but the reason I loved the movie was because despite how much Eric and Andrew the story still manages to cleverly subvert the bury your gays trope but Cabin At The End Of The World does the complete opposite. Without spoilers I can say that this book is walking bury your gays trope novel, we don't even get proper flashbacks of Andrew, Eric and Wen as a happy family to add to the feels of what the characters are losing. Queer people deserve to exist in horror novels but not solely to suffer.
Secondly the message. Cabin At The End Of The World falls into a trope I hate in horror especially if it doesn't suit the story. Its up to interpretation! Does not belong in a dooms day apocalypse. This ambiguity spoils the doomsday aspects as well as the many sacrifices. There's two messages Paul Tremblay wanted to include in this novel and it's clear he couldn't decide between Dooms Day Religious Cults Bad or Love In Any Form Is Powerful Enough To Save The World. You can't have both in a story like this it's gotta be one way or the other.
Finally the pov writing. Even bracing the reader for it doesn't help. The povs in the first half of this book was absolutely brilliant but the second half of the book felt like the povs were unintentionally weak or that he'd ran out of time so just decided having duel pov would work, it really didn't. Especially Sabrina's where it sounds like Eric and Andrew are reading a letter from her. It just felt so inconsistent and messy. Novels work better when they have the same writing style throughout. Cabin At The End Of The World would have struck better if kept the same writing style throughout.
Now let's get onto the positives.
First the fact that Wen's povs are actually written like she's seven years old. Alot of novels e.g Hunger Games cough cough like to write their child/teen protagonist as if they're an adult but Tremblay doesn't. He makes sure that we're actually in the mind of a scared seven year old and purposefully contrasts her povs from the povs of the adults and as a result it adds to the creepiness and eeriness especially contrasting with her and her Dad's povs. Her povs also add weight to how the Invaders feel about traumatising her and shows how messed up the doomsday invasion really is. Out of all of the characters I felt the most bad for her.
Secondly the pacing. Pacing is something that can either make or break a horror novel. In the case of Cabin At The End of the used the pacing is very fast and simple structured in terms of progression. As a result it makes the slower parts more intresting to focus on. Tremblay takes the right amount of time to flesh out the story and characters as a result allowing the dual messages of the story to further sink in. It also makes the atmsophere work a lot better. Had this been a slow draw out it would have felt very good so I'm glad Tremblay played it right.
Finally the boldness of the horror. Compared to the movie I did prefer the horror in this novel as it was more brave and unapologetic. Tremblay wasn't afraid to sugar coat the extremeness of the scenario presented to the family. The deaths were a lot more darker and disturbing which messed with my head more due to how graphic they were. It showed and empathised how dedicated the hoursemen were with their mission and purpose. I also think it adds a horror aspect to religion and throughly debates the question about if there's a God why are some of his decisions are so unethical.
Overall despite its major faults, The Cabin At The End Of The World is a beautifully messed psychological horror story that leaves you second guessing until the very end about the validity of the strangers stories. It's very tense and sad. Would recommend only if your in a good place mentally as I'm not sugar coating it, there's alot of su***de.
After seeing the movie I very much was looking forward to checking out the book and to me it only half delivered, the movie is way better. Shyamalan may have been a coward for excluding the death that happens in this book but at least it was a lot clearer in the message it was trying to give. The first quarter and half of this book was absolutely fantastic as I love psychological horror novels and this one definitely messed with me. The desperation of the Invaders was heartbreaking to read.
Even the slower parts of the book are disturbing. Every page makes you uncomfortable and that's what a good horror novel should do. It's the perfect length and the perfect pace. It also has a really good basic structure. I've only rated it lower because of the last quarter of the book. Truly if it wasn't for that last quarter this would a hundred percent be another five star. It normalises a healthy lgtbq+ family despite the fact the same family has to deal with invaders and the apocalypse.
This novel is definitely one that has an even number of flaws and strengths. Its one I'd recommend you to make your own decision.
So with that being said let's go into the flaws.
First the fact that it leans into the Bury Your Gays trope, I know it's a horror novel but the reason I loved the movie was because despite how much Eric and Andrew the story still manages to cleverly subvert the bury your gays trope but Cabin At The End Of The World does the complete opposite. Without spoilers I can say that this book is walking bury your gays trope novel, we don't even get proper flashbacks of Andrew, Eric and Wen as a happy family to add to the feels of what the characters are losing. Queer people deserve to exist in horror novels but not solely to suffer.
Secondly the message. Cabin At The End Of The World falls into a trope I hate in horror especially if it doesn't suit the story. Its up to interpretation! Does not belong in a dooms day apocalypse. This ambiguity spoils the doomsday aspects as well as the many sacrifices. There's two messages Paul Tremblay wanted to include in this novel and it's clear he couldn't decide between Dooms Day Religious Cults Bad or Love In Any Form Is Powerful Enough To Save The World. You can't have both in a story like this it's gotta be one way or the other.
Finally the pov writing. Even bracing the reader for it doesn't help. The povs in the first half of this book was absolutely brilliant but the second half of the book felt like the povs were unintentionally weak or that he'd ran out of time so just decided having duel pov would work, it really didn't. Especially Sabrina's where it sounds like Eric and Andrew are reading a letter from her. It just felt so inconsistent and messy. Novels work better when they have the same writing style throughout. Cabin At The End Of The World would have struck better if kept the same writing style throughout.
Now let's get onto the positives.
First the fact that Wen's povs are actually written like she's seven years old. Alot of novels e.g Hunger Games cough cough like to write their child/teen protagonist as if they're an adult but Tremblay doesn't. He makes sure that we're actually in the mind of a scared seven year old and purposefully contrasts her povs from the povs of the adults and as a result it adds to the creepiness and eeriness especially contrasting with her and her Dad's povs. Her povs also add weight to how the Invaders feel about traumatising her and shows how messed up the doomsday invasion really is. Out of all of the characters I felt the most bad for her.
Secondly the pacing. Pacing is something that can either make or break a horror novel. In the case of Cabin At The End of the used the pacing is very fast and simple structured in terms of progression. As a result it makes the slower parts more intresting to focus on. Tremblay takes the right amount of time to flesh out the story and characters as a result allowing the dual messages of the story to further sink in. It also makes the atmsophere work a lot better. Had this been a slow draw out it would have felt very good so I'm glad Tremblay played it right.
Finally the boldness of the horror. Compared to the movie I did prefer the horror in this novel as it was more brave and unapologetic. Tremblay wasn't afraid to sugar coat the extremeness of the scenario presented to the family. The deaths were a lot more darker and disturbing which messed with my head more due to how graphic they were. It showed and empathised how dedicated the hoursemen were with their mission and purpose. I also think it adds a horror aspect to religion and throughly debates the question about if there's a God why are some of his decisions are so unethical.
Overall despite its major faults, The Cabin At The End Of The World is a beautifully messed psychological horror story that leaves you second guessing until the very end about the validity of the strangers stories. It's very tense and sad. Would recommend only if your in a good place mentally as I'm not sugar coating it, there's alot of su***de.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Racism
waterlogged's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Child death
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Confinement
Minor: Homophobia
r_o_s_e's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Blood, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Excrement, and Vomit
gorbon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child death, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Confinement
jessy4550's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
5.0
I liked the book, but I do wish the ending was a little longer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Child death, Self harm, Death, Gaslighting, and Gore
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
The only scary thing about this book is how long it took me to get angry at it.
I finished it late last night and felt ambivalent at best. My thought before going to bed was, "That was dumb. Guess Paul Tremblay isn't for me." Then I woke up this morning, logged on to Goodreads once I got to work, and realized, no. That book wasn't just dumb. It was so absurd and inexpertly executed, it reads like a college freshman creative writing exercise. The idea carries menace, but the "because lmao" reasoning for WHY all of this is happening drove me up a wall.
WHY did the people in shirts decide they needed to meet and torment this family?
WHY is the apocalypse coming now?
WHY is this based so lightly on the book of Revelation and yet carries it off so poorly?
WHY is a sacrifice required?
WHY THIS FAMILY???
"But, Caitlin, don't you think you just can't appreciate the abstract and nebulous?"
Don't start with me. Jeff Vandermeer is one of my favorite weird fiction authors, and I can take hinting at something, dancing with the ghost of an idea, flirting with the frayed ends of theme as it glances me in the dark hallways of the story. If Paul Tremblay was anymore heavy-handed with his imagery, he could enter the Russian Slap Tournaments as a serious contender by proxy.
There's not always a clear reason why something happens in a horror novel. An explanation isn't entirely necessary. An explanation IS necessary when you keep having your antagonists dance around the idea that what they're doing will save the world, or when they keep hinting at there being a reason. "A sacrifice will save the world!" But why is it ending??? We didn't know a sacrifice was needed! "IT JUST IS."
That's like "Why is Hill House so scary!?!?!? BECAUSE. That's why!" And the house blows up.
Or "Why is Elk Head Woman coming after these folks? OooOooOOh cuz she's spoOOoOoooOooky!" And the story has nothing to do with intergenerational trauma and ending the cycle of violence.
And honestly, "horror" is such a stretch for this book, Leslie Hall wants to curl some body rolls around it. I don't care how nice the prose is. I don't care that the story starts out having a thread of menace hanging over everything. The execution was terrible, the repetition bogged down the pacing, and the threat was so unbelievable as to be silly.
I can live with putting pieces together as a reader. Spoon-feeding by authors shows not only a lack of experience, but a lack of trust in your audience. But the blanks here were so big, Tremblay essentially gave us an empty crossword puzzle and no clues, then decided that was clever. Maybe he just isn't an author for me. I have an ARC of one of his newer ones, so I'll give him one more try. But if it doesn't land, we'll know the experiment was a failure.
I finished it late last night and felt ambivalent at best. My thought before going to bed was, "That was dumb. Guess Paul Tremblay isn't for me." Then I woke up this morning, logged on to Goodreads once I got to work, and realized, no. That book wasn't just dumb. It was so absurd and inexpertly executed, it reads like a college freshman creative writing exercise. The idea carries menace, but the "because lmao" reasoning for WHY all of this is happening drove me up a wall.
WHY did the people in shirts decide they needed to meet and torment this family?
WHY is the apocalypse coming now?
WHY is this based so lightly on the book of Revelation and yet carries it off so poorly?
WHY is a sacrifice required?
WHY THIS FAMILY???
"But, Caitlin, don't you think you just can't appreciate the abstract and nebulous?"
Don't start with me. Jeff Vandermeer is one of my favorite weird fiction authors, and I can take hinting at something, dancing with the ghost of an idea, flirting with the frayed ends of theme as it glances me in the dark hallways of the story. If Paul Tremblay was anymore heavy-handed with his imagery, he could enter the Russian Slap Tournaments as a serious contender by proxy.
There's not always a clear reason why something happens in a horror novel. An explanation isn't entirely necessary. An explanation IS necessary when you keep having your antagonists dance around the idea that what they're doing will save the world, or when they keep hinting at there being a reason. "A sacrifice will save the world!" But why is it ending??? We didn't know a sacrifice was needed! "IT JUST IS."
That's like "Why is Hill House so scary!?!?!? BECAUSE. That's why!" And the house blows up.
Or "Why is Elk Head Woman coming after these folks? OooOooOOh cuz she's spoOOoOoooOooky!" And the story has nothing to do with intergenerational trauma and ending the cycle of violence.
And honestly, "horror" is such a stretch for this book, Leslie Hall wants to curl some body rolls around it. I don't care how nice the prose is. I don't care that the story starts out having a thread of menace hanging over everything. The execution was terrible, the repetition bogged down the pacing, and the threat was so unbelievable as to be silly.
I can live with putting pieces together as a reader. Spoon-feeding by authors shows not only a lack of experience, but a lack of trust in your audience. But the blanks here were so big, Tremblay essentially gave us an empty crossword puzzle and no clues, then decided that was clever. Maybe he just isn't an author for me. I have an ARC of one of his newer ones, so I'll give him one more try. But if it doesn't land, we'll know the experiment was a failure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Violence, Murder, Confinement, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
ell_n's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Homophobia
bethboo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Don't look at my Content Warnings because they have major spoilers.
I feel like I probably should have had a better grip on what this book was about before I began reading it. That's a mistake I seem to make pretty often. I went into this book expecting a horror book, based on the title and the original cover (which is an abstract red, classic scary book look). There were definitely horror elements based on the premise alone.
A lively family visits a cabin in the middle of nowhere for a getaway, but four people armed with twisted tools force their way into their temporary abode and give them an ultimatum: Choose one of your family to sacrifice to stop the impending apocalypse or the world will end.
It was creepy and violent and contradictory, which was fascinating. My main desire the entire read was whether or not this "apocalypse" was actually real in the world of this book. I wanted to know the answer so badly, I thought I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
But, in warning, this book is tragic. Nothing good happens to this family, which should be a given, but I was caught off guard by how many tears I shed for this book.
I really liked how everyone kept on repeating how they were just an everyday person but then the visions and the sameness. I knew from the second Andrew came back into the cabin with the gun that something bad was going to happen to Wen. I was fucking devastated. I cried when it happened and then Leonard's POV was so good with his confusion and regret. Eric losing it and Andrew trying to keep it together. Oh gods it hurt.
The ending? Oh fuck the ending. I was SOBBING. I was listening to the book while doing my makeup and I had to redo my eyes. How they spoke to each other and held each other and loved each other despite everything, because of everything. Fuck, I'm tearing up right now. Shit, this book got me good.
I feel like I probably should have had a better grip on what this book was about before I began reading it. That's a mistake I seem to make pretty often. I went into this book expecting a horror book, based on the title and the original cover (which is an abstract red, classic scary book look). There were definitely horror elements based on the premise alone.
A lively family visits a cabin in the middle of nowhere for a getaway, but four people armed with twisted tools force their way into their temporary abode and give them an ultimatum: Choose one of your family to sacrifice to stop the impending apocalypse or the world will end.
It was creepy and violent and contradictory, which was fascinating. My main desire the entire read was whether or not this "apocalypse" was actually real in the world of this book. I wanted to know the answer so badly, I thought I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
But, in warning, this book is tragic. Nothing good happens to this family, which should be a given, but I was caught off guard by how many tears I shed for this book.
The ending? Oh fuck the ending. I was SOBBING. I was listening to the book while doing my makeup and I had to redo my eyes. How they spoke to each other and held each other and loved each other despite everything, because of everything. Fuck, I'm tearing up right now. Shit, this book got me good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Religious bigotry