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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
14th book of 2024 &…this is hands down the scariest book I’ve ever read. Partially due to (spoiler alert) the monsters being literal mutant tapeworms.
I love all animals but loathe maggots and anything that’s in the realm of parasites. Just can’t do it. Most disgusting thing on Gaia’s beautiful Earth.
Couldnt snack while reading this or think about food in general
I love all animals but loathe maggots and anything that’s in the realm of parasites. Just can’t do it. Most disgusting thing on Gaia’s beautiful Earth.
Couldnt snack while reading this or think about food in general
A modified hydatid tapeworm that was designed for one purpose. Reproduce. In order to reproduce within a host, it needs to feed. EAT EAT EAT. EAT EAT EAT. When an infected man goes to an island where a scout troop is camping out for the weekend, it's a survival situation for both the worms and the humans.
The book goes between the story on the island and the aftermath. On the island, you follow all the characters at one point or another. During the aftermath, you get everything from interviews to research articles written about the event.
While the book does rely a bit on tropey cliches, the story builds enough tension to hook you. It's odd because I could guess what was going to happen, but at the same time, I had to get to the scene. It's pretty vivid and doesn't hold back from being as graphic as it needs to be. And it gets plenty graphic. Probably not a book for squeamish people.
I thought the characters were complete cliches and pretty one dimensional, but there was adequate character development and backstory to go with them.
The "final showdown" was a bit disappointing. But the book was running out of gas by that point.
3.5 stars rounds to 4.
The book goes between the story on the island and the aftermath. On the island, you follow all the characters at one point or another. During the aftermath, you get everything from interviews to research articles written about the event.
While the book does rely a bit on tropey cliches, the story builds enough tension to hook you. It's odd because I could guess what was going to happen, but at the same time, I had to get to the scene. It's pretty vivid and doesn't hold back from being as graphic as it needs to be. And it gets plenty graphic. Probably not a book for squeamish people.
I thought the characters were complete cliches and pretty one dimensional, but there was adequate character development and backstory to go with them.
The "final showdown" was a bit disappointing. But the book was running out of gas by that point.
3.5 stars rounds to 4.
it started to lose some steam in the third act and the last page really annoyed me but otherwise such a gross and engrossing read
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
Well, I did not expect that! There was a lot of unexpected gore.
Light spoilers below, no major plot spoilers.
Story: I loved the story in this book. A relatively simple premise executed really well. My biggest critique is that I wish the antagonist/creature was explained less. This is the type of book where less information makes the threat scarier, so I wish we didn’t learn quite as much about it. I enjoyed the ending, it got a little campy towards the last quarter (pun intended) but ultimately I think it worked and I found it a lot of fun!
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Characters: the characters were a little one note, but this clearly wasn’t a character driven story so I’m not too beat up about it. I didn’t get attached to anyone, so the more tragic moments didn’t hurt as much as they were probably meant to. In particular, I didn’t love reading Shelley-focused chapters. He was interesting, but nothing I haven’t read before, and the descriptions of animal torture were gratuitous and uncomfortable to read.
-
Writing: Cutter does a great job writing really disgusting descriptions! My skin was crawling quite a bit during this book. Definitely not for you if body horror/insects/trypophobia is something that bothers you! The scenes with Ephraim (if you’ve read the book you know exactly what I’m talking about) got to me the most.
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Overall: 4/5
Story: I loved the story in this book. A relatively simple premise executed really well. My biggest critique is that I wish the antagonist/creature was explained less. This is the type of book where less information makes the threat scarier, so I wish we didn’t learn quite as much about it. I enjoyed the ending, it got a little campy towards the last quarter (pun intended) but ultimately I think it worked and I found it a lot of fun!
-
Characters: the characters were a little one note, but this clearly wasn’t a character driven story so I’m not too beat up about it. I didn’t get attached to anyone, so the more tragic moments didn’t hurt as much as they were probably meant to. In particular, I didn’t love reading Shelley-focused chapters. He was interesting, but nothing I haven’t read before, and the descriptions of animal torture were gratuitous and uncomfortable to read.
-
Writing: Cutter does a great job writing really disgusting descriptions! My skin was crawling quite a bit during this book. Definitely not for you if body horror/insects/trypophobia is something that bothers you! The scenes with Ephraim (if you’ve read the book you know exactly what I’m talking about) got to me the most.
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Overall: 4/5
Overall - this book is pretty damn good. I love the small journeys and back stories of all the characters. Nick Cutter knows how to write an intriguing character, that's for sure. I did find the descriptions of the sickness a bit repetitive, and almost DNF'd at the cat and turtle parts, but I'm glad I finished it.