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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I grew up reading pretty much anything by R.L. Stine. The Nightmare Room series was my favorite, but I read plenty of others by him in my preteen years. The Devouring kind of brought me back to that time in my life, simply because it reads like a young-adult Goosebumps novel. That's probably why I enjoyed it so much.
The novel follows Reggie, a horror fan who reads all kinds of horror books, watches scary movies, etc. So when she stumbles across an old journal detailing the Vours, she's intrigued, but writes it off as a good fiction story. Simon Holt actually did a pretty good job creating these Vours. They're supernatural bad guys who prey on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. And when Reggie's younger brother falls victim to a one, she finds herself in all kinds of trouble.
I'm not going to say this is some masterwork of horror fiction. Like I said, it reads like an R.L. Stine novel: fast, fun, and creepy. If you grew up on Goosebumps like me, you'll probably like it, since it's a slight step up on the mature scale than those novels. I flew through it in less than twenty-four hours, and can't wait to read the sequel.
The novel follows Reggie, a horror fan who reads all kinds of horror books, watches scary movies, etc. So when she stumbles across an old journal detailing the Vours, she's intrigued, but writes it off as a good fiction story. Simon Holt actually did a pretty good job creating these Vours. They're supernatural bad guys who prey on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. And when Reggie's younger brother falls victim to a one, she finds herself in all kinds of trouble.
I'm not going to say this is some masterwork of horror fiction. Like I said, it reads like an R.L. Stine novel: fast, fun, and creepy. If you grew up on Goosebumps like me, you'll probably like it, since it's a slight step up on the mature scale than those novels. I flew through it in less than twenty-four hours, and can't wait to read the sequel.
I will admit it... I suppose this is more of a guilty-pleasure sort of book for me. It certainly doesn't have any earthshattering life lessons to teach, or deeply intense themes to explore, or beautifully crafted characters to connect with, but what is does have is lots of chilling, gory scenes, that fit any good, old-fashioned horror novel standards.
I read this in one day, swallowing up each grotesque scene greedily. I feel the author did a great job of creating some creepy situations, and used imagery that helped the reader see each bloody detail. If you are looking for a quick horror read to get a nightmarish blood and guts kind of fix, this book will do that.
I read this in one day, swallowing up each grotesque scene greedily. I feel the author did a great job of creating some creepy situations, and used imagery that helped the reader see each bloody detail. If you are looking for a quick horror read to get a nightmarish blood and guts kind of fix, this book will do that.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Was even more chilling the second time around, although I'm not quite sure if it still deserves five stars.
Was even more chilling the second time around, although I'm not quite sure if it still deserves five stars.
I read this as a "Read a scary book" challenge. And Im glad I didnt read it at night home alone although Ive heard multiple young-adults say that it isnt scary at all. Yes it is. Im gonna have nightmares.
I didnt expect much of it and thanks to that Im pleasantly surprised. There were many cliches and some events were predictable but it had its twists and turns where I was really holymoly surprised.
I will keep recommending this book to anyone interested in horror in my library and Ill keep waiting for more YA books like this to be translated to Estonian.
I didnt expect much of it and thanks to that Im pleasantly surprised. There were many cliches and some events were predictable but it had its twists and turns where I was really holymoly surprised.
I will keep recommending this book to anyone interested in horror in my library and Ill keep waiting for more YA books like this to be translated to Estonian.
This was a short easy read that kept my attention. I do feel like parts of the end were rushed so it lacked some scary build-up that it could have had. I appreciate that although this is a series and it is obvious there is more to tell, the main story was wrapped up, & it didn't end with a cliffhanger, which I find annoying in books. It can be a stand-alone if you aren't feeling the whole series.
I feel like it was well written and had an interesting concept but it just didn't hit the mark. It was so close to being really good but everytime a great oppurtunity for an interesting plot exploration came up...he didn't write about it. Plus, it wasn't nearly long enough to explore all of the themes.
I did not expect anything from this, so it was a pleasant surprise when I actually liked it. I'm most likely going to read the sequels, too.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Read my reviews here: https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-devouring-by-simon-holt.html
For someone who hates anything to do with horror, I was hesitant about this book. I picked it up originally because I had heard so many good things about it and I didn't realize it was in the horror category. However, I decided to give it a try and see if I would be pleasantly surprised.
I can say, I think I was.
The book was disturbing in so many scenes. Which! I say in a good way because I assume that is what people look for in the horror genre. It was just the right amount of descriptive to be horrifying.
However, a good thing for me: It wasn't continuous horror. I can really only recall about five chapters that I felt brought out pure fear, horror or disgust out of me. Holt managed to intertwine beautiful and thought-provoking quotes and scenes. I loved reading about the more deep questions regarding the evil or goodness of being a human.
Another part which surprised me with how much I enjoyed it was the world building - that is the supernatural - world. The normal world which involved backstories of family and high school dynamics, honestly didn't interest me as much.
I loved learning about the Vours in the same time the characters were, I loved hearing about their abilities, their weaknesses, backstories. The Vours were such great antagonists. Their powers and how it was explained, including scientifically, was so smart and attention grabbing. These creatures were such a unique idea and in the book, they were executed perfectly. It was so interesting and whenever the novel focused on the characters' research or planning, I was honestly so caught up in the book.
One of the downfalls of this book would have to be the ending. Not because of what happened but because of how the ending was shown. After what I would consider the climax of the book, it only took three more pages for it to end. It ended so abruptly and I wanted to be able to see more of the aftermath. I know there are other books in the series but I think what happens after is relevant to this one.
Overall, while the book had great aspects, it wasn't that gripping. It didn't make it impossible to put the book down and it wasn't much of a page turner. But while it wasn't that impactful, it was...good.
For someone who hates anything to do with horror, I was hesitant about this book. I picked it up originally because I had heard so many good things about it and I didn't realize it was in the horror category. However, I decided to give it a try and see if I would be pleasantly surprised.
I can say, I think I was.
The book was disturbing in so many scenes. Which! I say in a good way because I assume that is what people look for in the horror genre. It was just the right amount of descriptive to be horrifying.
However, a good thing for me: It wasn't continuous horror. I can really only recall about five chapters that I felt brought out pure fear, horror or disgust out of me. Holt managed to intertwine beautiful and thought-provoking quotes and scenes. I loved reading about the more deep questions regarding the evil or goodness of being a human.
Another part which surprised me with how much I enjoyed it was the world building - that is the supernatural - world. The normal world which involved backstories of family and high school dynamics, honestly didn't interest me as much.
I loved learning about the Vours in the same time the characters were, I loved hearing about their abilities, their weaknesses, backstories. The Vours were such great antagonists. Their powers and how it was explained, including scientifically, was so smart and attention grabbing. These creatures were such a unique idea and in the book, they were executed perfectly. It was so interesting and whenever the novel focused on the characters' research or planning, I was honestly so caught up in the book.
One of the downfalls of this book would have to be the ending. Not because of what happened but because of how the ending was shown. After what I would consider the climax of the book, it only took three more pages for it to end. It ended so abruptly and I wanted to be able to see more of the aftermath. I know there are other books in the series but I think what happens after is relevant to this one.
Overall, while the book had great aspects, it wasn't that gripping. It didn't make it impossible to put the book down and it wasn't much of a page turner. But while it wasn't that impactful, it was...good.
To be honest, i was expecting more of this book. I don't know why but i was expecting it to freak me out but it didn't. I still really enjoyed it and it was different to the other books i've been reading so thats pretty good and a lot of the book was really unexpected and it was really creative and i liked the characters.