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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
…. Wow. Okay then. Theres some stuff to unpack.
This book sparked GENUINE NIGHTMARES after reading. I had a dream that a friend gave me a ton of the oily worms to me as a gift. When i opened the gift all the worms crawled all around my house and started eating everything in sight growing bigger. They wouldnt die.
Anyways, sorry. Back to the book. I found this on every single reddit post that was asking for body horror book recommendations and they were certainly not wrong. This book gave me the heebie jeebies every second while reading it. (Also, i love the Alien reference with the scoutmaster in the start
This book sparked GENUINE NIGHTMARES after reading. I had a dream that a friend gave me a ton of the oily worms to me as a gift. When i opened the gift all the worms crawled all around my house and started eating everything in sight growing bigger. They wouldnt die.
Anyways, sorry. Back to the book. I found this on every single reddit post that was asking for body horror book recommendations and they were certainly not wrong. This book gave me the heebie jeebies every second while reading it. (Also, i love the Alien reference with the scoutmaster in the start
This book is so gross. So so gross. Like hard to read gross. 5 stars
Once this book picks up it’s hard to put down, part lord of the flies, part the thing, part so scary and gross and nightmare imagery. Don’t eat before or after reading this book.
Once this book picks up it’s hard to put down, part lord of the flies, part the thing, part so scary and gross and nightmare imagery. Don’t eat before or after reading this book.
4 stars
(I won't be held responsible if you do not heed my warnings)
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS before proceeding to read:
• Death
• Torture
• Animal torture & unaliving
• Self harm
• Body horror
• Gore & bodily fluids
• Parasite worms
• Human experimentation
• Plot twist that will shiver you to the core
This reminded me of Stand By Me movie/The Body by SK meets the movie Slither + Cabin Fever.
Body horror & parasites at it's best.
The Troop is the type of book that will pull you in right as you start reading and holds your attention all the way through. There were some points where I don't think the kids past was relevant which is why a star was deducted but that didn't stop me from being lost in the book. I highly recommend this for people who are horror readers and okay with several trigger warnings that many people don't find okay to read about.
(I won't be held responsible if you do not heed my warnings)
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS before proceeding to read:
• Death
• Torture
• Animal torture & unaliving
• Self harm
• Body horror
• Gore & bodily fluids
• Parasite worms
• Human experimentation
• Plot twist that will shiver you to the core
This reminded me of Stand By Me movie/The Body by SK meets the movie Slither + Cabin Fever.
Body horror & parasites at it's best.
The Troop is the type of book that will pull you in right as you start reading and holds your attention all the way through. There were some points where I don't think the kids past was relevant which is why a star was deducted but that didn't stop me from being lost in the book. I highly recommend this for people who are horror readers and okay with several trigger warnings that many people don't find okay to read about.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
I was really taken aback by the writing style of this book. I did read it almost exclusively on audio and between the narration style and the writing style, this book was almost… poetic(?) for lack of a better word. The way Cutter describes horrific things is brash but also almost purple prose, in my opinion. It added so much to the bleak, sorrowful story.
The Troop grossed me out, churned my stomach like nothing has since Tender is the Flesh. But it also did what I love in horror stories which is deep dive into the internal dialogues of the character’s during this unimaginably terrifying experience. Maybe it’s because I’m a mother to two boys but being in the heads of these young teenage boys was devastating. They all had such different life experiences and reactions to the events and I had strong feelings toward each boy.
The Troop grossed me out, churned my stomach like nothing has since Tender is the Flesh. But it also did what I love in horror stories which is deep dive into the internal dialogues of the character’s during this unimaginably terrifying experience. Maybe it’s because I’m a mother to two boys but being in the heads of these young teenage boys was devastating. They all had such different life experiences and reactions to the events and I had strong feelings toward each boy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
THE TROOP, like THE FISHERMAN, was thrust into my orbit via Booktube reviewers so I thought I’d try it out. The result: This was legitimately good.
Borrowing heavily from LORD OF THE FLIES, Nick Cutter creates his own spin on the boys from the island. Piggy is here, but he’s Newt. Ralph is here, but he’s Max. Jack is here but he’s Kent. And Roger is here - boy is he - but he’s Shelley. Ephraim, however, is something of an anomaly - he’s definitely not Simon; he’s like an amalgamation of Ralph and Jack. I say all this to set the stage that it’s pretty much a 1:1 with LOTF character-wise.
From there, the book becomes its own body horror novel. The boys are dealing with a parasite outbreak. Interspersed are current-events type passages that update the reader on goings on outside the island.
There’s a lot of really gross parasitic images, particularly one chimpanzee flashback that’s hard to get out of your brain.
Some stuff doesn’t work. The relentless similes are sometimes beautiful, sometimes labored. There’s quite a few continuity problems too - a boy whose hair is easily sloughed off with a gentle pat is then dragged by his hair later in the chapter - but these don’t detract from the overall creepiness and horror.
The characters are well done. As an Eagle Scout myself, the love of Scouting and the friendships it can create is tangible on these pages. Well done Nick Cutter.
Borrowing heavily from LORD OF THE FLIES, Nick Cutter creates his own spin on the boys from the island. Piggy is here, but he’s Newt. Ralph is here, but he’s Max. Jack is here but he’s Kent. And Roger is here - boy is he - but he’s Shelley. Ephraim, however, is something of an anomaly - he’s definitely not Simon; he’s like an amalgamation of Ralph and Jack. I say all this to set the stage that it’s pretty much a 1:1 with LOTF character-wise.
From there, the book becomes its own body horror novel. The boys are dealing with a parasite outbreak. Interspersed are current-events type passages that update the reader on goings on outside the island.
There’s a lot of really gross parasitic images, particularly one chimpanzee flashback that’s hard to get out of your brain.
Some stuff doesn’t work. The relentless similes are sometimes beautiful, sometimes labored. There’s quite a few continuity problems too - a boy whose hair is easily sloughed off with a gentle pat is then dragged by his hair later in the chapter - but these don’t detract from the overall creepiness and horror.
The characters are well done. As an Eagle Scout myself, the love of Scouting and the friendships it can create is tangible on these pages. Well done Nick Cutter.