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cat_reads_book's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
donasbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I read Ronald Malfi's SNOW with one of my Booksta book clubs and that's the only reason this book is getting two stars instead of ending up on the DNF shelf. It's only avoiding a 1 star review because the snow is actually really terrifying stuff and I love horror stories set in snowy landscapes.
Initially, the snow creatures Malfi introduces are quite terrifying, but much like playing with a tiny cousin and having him scream new rules at me every time I'm about to score, reading about Malfi's antagonist becomes more preposterous and comedic every time Malfi randomly evolves it. He does this to raise story stakes because in reality, his storyline is always weak.
Still, human versus cold kept me interested in this very long read. Until Malfi has his characters eat food out of a refrigerator that's been powered down for a week. It wouldn't have maintained temperature inside; either it would have warmed enough to rot the food (because sealed and insulated) or if it was cold enough outside ro affect the food inside, the food would have frozen over the course of a week. Wow is there a lot wrong with this book.
I can't say too much about the basic quality of the writing, because the editing is lacking. Errors stack up fast enough to impact the reading experience and bias the reader against the writing, if style is a thing the reader cares about.
Then there are the problems Malfi seems to have with fat bodies (even pregnant ones), old people, and mental illness, all of whom deserve death in his fictional world.
I know Malfi is kind of a big name in horror these days. I love horror. But I don't love Malfi even a little and I won't read anymore of his books. But hey, everyone else in my book club raved about it, so who am I to say this book isn't great?
Rating: ❄️❄️ / 5 snow monsters
Recommend? Nope
Finished: January 16 2023
Initially, the snow creatures Malfi introduces are quite terrifying, but much like playing with a tiny cousin and having him scream new rules at me every time I'm about to score, reading about Malfi's antagonist becomes more preposterous and comedic every time Malfi randomly evolves it. He does this to raise story stakes because in reality, his storyline is always weak.
Still, human versus cold kept me interested in this very long read. Until Malfi has his characters eat food out of a refrigerator that's been powered down for a week. It wouldn't have maintained temperature inside; either it would have warmed enough to rot the food (because sealed and insulated) or if it was cold enough outside ro affect the food inside, the food would have frozen over the course of a week. Wow is there a lot wrong with this book.
I can't say too much about the basic quality of the writing, because the editing is lacking. Errors stack up fast enough to impact the reading experience and bias the reader against the writing, if style is a thing the reader cares about.
Then there are the problems Malfi seems to have with fat bodies (even pregnant ones), old people, and mental illness, all of whom deserve death in his fictional world.
I know Malfi is kind of a big name in horror these days. I love horror. But I don't love Malfi even a little and I won't read anymore of his books. But hey, everyone else in my book club raved about it, so who am I to say this book isn't great?
Rating: ❄️❄️ / 5 snow monsters
Recommend? Nope
Finished: January 16 2023
romysvx's review against another edition
3.0
Fabuła “Snow” Malfiego to z pozoru historia dobrze znana - mamy bowiem małe wyludnione miasteczko i grupkę osób, która w czasie śnieżycy stulecia szuka w nim schronienia. Oczywiście, jak pewnie już się domyśliliście - miasteczko okazuje się być nie do końca martwe i opuszczone, a bohaterów zamiast odpoczynku przy ciepłym kubku kawy w przytulnym hoteliku czekać będzie zaciekła walka o życie. I mógłby to być kolejny schematyczny zimowy survival horror, których na Amazonie jest na pęczki, gdyby nie parę oryginalnych elementów, którymi raczy czytelnika Malfi. Bo czy zetknęliście się kiedykolwiek z książką, w której mordercą jest śnieg? Biały puch, który w ułamku sekundy otula, wnika i opanowuje niewinne ofiary, znacząc je przy okazji piętnem w kształcie szram na plecach i wyposażając w zabójcze kosy w miejsce dłoni. Zaiście pomysłowe i niesztampowe, czyż nie? Dodajmy do tego jeszcze doskonałą wręcz umiejętność autora do wykreowania wyjątkowo niepokojącej, klaustrofobicznej atmosfery i przyprawiających o autentyczne dreszcze opisów upiornych dzieci bez twarzy.
Ronald Malfi to moim zdaniem najlepszy pisarz grozy młodego pokolenia. Gdybym miałabym wskazać autora, która w przyszłości zajmie miejsce Kinga / Strauba / McCammona to bez chwili wahania wskazałabym - Malfi! I wprawdzie “Snow” nie jest powieścią na miarę “Bone White” i “December Boys” - czyli najlepszych dokonań autora - to jednak pomimo, że historia dobrze znana i zarówno cały jej bieg jak i samo zakończenie z góry można w mniejszym bądź większym stopniu przewidzieć - to dzięki niebanalnym rozwiązaniom książka ta wnosi powiew świeżości do gatunku mocno już wyeksploatowanego survival horroru. „Snow” zdecydowanie mogę nazwać książka udaną, dobrą - jednak wątpię, żeby na dłużej zapisała mi się w pamięci. Ale jako wciągająca i interesującą rozrywka na (bezśnieżne) zimowe wieczory - jak znalazł.
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Ronald Malfi to moim zdaniem najlepszy pisarz grozy młodego pokolenia. Gdybym miałabym wskazać autora, która w przyszłości zajmie miejsce Kinga / Strauba / McCammona to bez chwili wahania wskazałabym - Malfi! I wprawdzie “Snow” nie jest powieścią na miarę “Bone White” i “December Boys” - czyli najlepszych dokonań autora - to jednak pomimo, że historia dobrze znana i zarówno cały jej bieg jak i samo zakończenie z góry można w mniejszym bądź większym stopniu przewidzieć - to dzięki niebanalnym rozwiązaniom książka ta wnosi powiew świeżości do gatunku mocno już wyeksploatowanego survival horroru. „Snow” zdecydowanie mogę nazwać książka udaną, dobrą - jednak wątpię, żeby na dłużej zapisała mi się w pamięci. Ale jako wciągająca i interesującą rozrywka na (bezśnieżne) zimowe wieczory - jak znalazł.
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vikingwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Todd needs to get to the home of his ex-wife to see his son for Christmas but a snowstorm cancels his flight at Chicago. Against all common sense, he and three fellow travellers decide to hire a car and drive. They encounter a strange man looking for his missing child, causing their car to crash, forcing them to go into the nearby town. However the streets are empty and something has taken over the bodies of the people, hunting down the few survivors.
Todd is a good character. His gambling addiction cost him his wife but he is trying to salvage his relationship with his young son who wants to see him at Christmas. Scared of letting Justin down again, Todd takes the crazy decision to rent a car to drive through the deadly storm. I get his reasons but I'd have decided to wait the storm out in the comfort of the airport where there is heat, light, toilets, food etc rather than risking my neck out on icy roads with hardly any supplies if the car breaks down or crashes. Of course, even my wild imagination wouldn't be thinking 'alien snow monsters' but I'd never have risked that trip.
Kate is on her way home to her fiance and hires the last vehicle capable of making the journey but kindly offers to take Todd, and a married couple Fred and Nan, who are all heading the same way. I liked the four of them from the start and wanted to scream at them not to be so dumb but of course they weren't listening to me. Fred and Todd agree to share the driving and head off. Swerving to avoid a man on the road causes an accident that cripples the car. The strange man is adamant that he has lost his daughter in the snow but our four friends are rightly freaked out by him.
They decide to enter the town and things aren't right from the start. They encounter creepy faceless children, strange adults whose bodies have been taken over by monsters, blood and fire in the town square, vanishing animals and the never ending snow storm continues. Their phones are dead, cars won't start and the storm and what lives inside it is pinning them down and not allowing them to escape or call for help. The travellers are going to have to find a way to survive the danger and think of a plan to escape.
Being stranded by a storm is usually a fun scenario for a horror book and this proved to be the case. The puppet-master monsters are scary and very difficult to fight. The way they take over the human body and leave them wandering around like zombies is creepy and disturbing. The isolated, deserted town is an eerie setting and the difficulty of their situation is obvious. Even if they survive the monsters, the deep freezing storm with no power can be a killer on its own. I certainly found it a pretty tense book to read.
I liked the way the author wrote the book. He gave the main characters a bit of back story to let the reader find out enough about them to care what happens to them but didn't go into any unrequired details to pad the book out. He described what was needed for the story and just got on with it in a way that kept me reading it. A simple story done well with imagination shown for this kind of monster is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It doesn't go mega gory as the skill in this story is about atmosphere and tension. The perfect horror to read on a cold winter day!
This is the first book of the author that I've read and I'll definitely be looking at more of his work soon. Highly recommended.
Todd is a good character. His gambling addiction cost him his wife but he is trying to salvage his relationship with his young son who wants to see him at Christmas. Scared of letting Justin down again, Todd takes the crazy decision to rent a car to drive through the deadly storm. I get his reasons but I'd have decided to wait the storm out in the comfort of the airport where there is heat, light, toilets, food etc rather than risking my neck out on icy roads with hardly any supplies if the car breaks down or crashes. Of course, even my wild imagination wouldn't be thinking 'alien snow monsters' but I'd never have risked that trip.
Kate is on her way home to her fiance and hires the last vehicle capable of making the journey but kindly offers to take Todd, and a married couple Fred and Nan, who are all heading the same way. I liked the four of them from the start and wanted to scream at them not to be so dumb but of course they weren't listening to me. Fred and Todd agree to share the driving and head off. Swerving to avoid a man on the road causes an accident that cripples the car. The strange man is adamant that he has lost his daughter in the snow but our four friends are rightly freaked out by him.
They decide to enter the town and things aren't right from the start. They encounter creepy faceless children, strange adults whose bodies have been taken over by monsters, blood and fire in the town square, vanishing animals and the never ending snow storm continues. Their phones are dead, cars won't start and the storm and what lives inside it is pinning them down and not allowing them to escape or call for help. The travellers are going to have to find a way to survive the danger and think of a plan to escape.
Being stranded by a storm is usually a fun scenario for a horror book and this proved to be the case. The puppet-master monsters are scary and very difficult to fight. The way they take over the human body and leave them wandering around like zombies is creepy and disturbing. The isolated, deserted town is an eerie setting and the difficulty of their situation is obvious. Even if they survive the monsters, the deep freezing storm with no power can be a killer on its own. I certainly found it a pretty tense book to read.
I liked the way the author wrote the book. He gave the main characters a bit of back story to let the reader find out enough about them to care what happens to them but didn't go into any unrequired details to pad the book out. He described what was needed for the story and just got on with it in a way that kept me reading it. A simple story done well with imagination shown for this kind of monster is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It doesn't go mega gory as the skill in this story is about atmosphere and tension. The perfect horror to read on a cold winter day!
This is the first book of the author that I've read and I'll definitely be looking at more of his work soon. Highly recommended.
barbtrek's review against another edition
4.0
This was creepy & very good. I am checking out more by this author.
dinoreader84's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.25
Yep, this was written by a man.
It started all right other than the massive amount of fatphobia and the weirdo descriptions of things. I was interested in what was going on...and then it just. I don't even know. By the end of the book I didn't much care if anyone survived. I wish I had stopped when my gut said to DNF. It just had such POTENTIAL.
It started all right other than the massive amount of fatphobia and the weirdo descriptions of things. I was interested in what was going on...and then it just. I don't even know. By the end of the book I didn't much care if anyone survived. I wish I had stopped when my gut said to DNF. It just had such POTENTIAL.
emfg79's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this well enough. The beginning was eerie, but as more and more was revealed, I became a little less interested. Also, dude likes his similes and metaphors. This is the second Malfi-written/Hempel-narrated audiobook I've listened to.
adamsfall's review against another edition
1.0
DNF 16%
Well, it’s my first DNF of the year. Ugh.
This one was giving me bad vibes out the gate with the Bulls Sweatshirt guy. I don’t know if Malfi is fat phobic irl, but goddamn, how many times do you need to mention how big, heavy, messy, chunky, etc. someone is, and liken their body to food. It was so heavy handed and blatantly mean, which might have been fine if it was an internal character moment showing us how that person was, but it was just Malfi’s description of choice for a throw away character.
The dialogue was painful. Like, so fucking bad.
I picked it up because there’s a big snowstorm moving in. I’ll probably just re-read the Shining.
Well, it’s my first DNF of the year. Ugh.
This one was giving me bad vibes out the gate with the Bulls Sweatshirt guy. I don’t know if Malfi is fat phobic irl, but goddamn, how many times do you need to mention how big, heavy, messy, chunky, etc. someone is, and liken their body to food. It was so heavy handed and blatantly mean, which might have been fine if it was an internal character moment showing us how that person was, but it was just Malfi’s description of choice for a throw away character.
The dialogue was painful. Like, so fucking bad.
I picked it up because there’s a big snowstorm moving in. I’ll probably just re-read the Shining.
ivorymusic82's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Child death
immaninja12's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0