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squidshroom's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted to like this book but it just felt really long for really not that long of a plot. I think the whole thing might be the span of 3 or 4 days?
I think maybe focusing on one or two of the characters at a time would have helped keep some of the focus but overall it didn't feel like a lot of payoff for just the last 20% of the book.
I think maybe focusing on one or two of the characters at a time would have helped keep some of the focus but overall it didn't feel like a lot of payoff for just the last 20% of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
ssummar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Self harm, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Excrement and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty
rainstar's review against another edition
dark
tense
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, Death, Sexism, and Self harm
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Sexual assault
underscoremeg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Amy, Jeff, Stacy, and Eric are two couples who go on a vacation to Mexico. Here, they meet Mathias, a German who speaks English, and Pablo, Juan, and Don Quixote, three Greeks who do not speak English. Mathias’ brother had disappeared a few days prior and Mathias decides to go to the ruins of a mine shaft in the jungle to find him. Amy, Jeff, Stacy, and Eric go with him, and so does Pablo. Once they get to the jungle (an extremely remote area inhabited by a traditional Mayan village) they find a weird clearing surrounding a hill covered in vines and red flowers. Despite the locals trying VERY hard to prevent them from climbing this hill, the friend group goes up anyway. Then, the Mayans refuse to let them leave. Surrounding the base of the hill, they show that they will shoot anyone who attempts to escape.
Spoilers; shortly after coming onto the hill, they find abandoned tents and supplies from an earlier group. Then, they find bodies (or, what’s remaining of bodies) including Mathias’ brother. There is a mineshaft on the hill that they try to explore, but Pablo breaks his back falling down it almost immediately and they struggle to take care of him and survive with minimal supplies.
I expected this book to be way more about actual ruins and potentially ancient civilization(s), but it was literally just a hill with a very big hole. The book was GREAT for suspense and body horror, but it was too slow and almost boring for my personal taste. I’m glad I read it, I just was expecting something else.
The death scenes were extremely unsettling, and the whole book was well written and uncomfortable. The antagonist of the novel was the vines - they are somehow alive? Going so far as to make noises that mimic speech, create traps for the people on the hill, and eventually eat any organic material on the hill.
The whole novel takes place over, roughly, four or so days and there are no chapters to separate events. This makes the book EXTREMELY unique in the sense that it’s continuous - readers get to see nearly every moment of every character the entire time they’re on this hill. The characters make matters worse for themselves over and over again, and I loved the problematic characters. I saw an earlier comment that claimed the female characters were written in a sexist way and I agree, but only somewhat - none of the characters are particularly lovable or enjoyable altogether, but they each have strengths and individual irritants AND positives. I liked to see this mix of what felt like realistic early-20-somethings.
Overall, I liked this book. I would definitely recommend it to friends and encourage others to read it, but I want to be clear - this is a SURVIVAL HORROR. Much of the book is simply waiting around for death to come, despite active efforts to survive. It’s a hopeless and desperate situation where the reader is more or less watching these characters succumb to something beyond themselves.
Conversely, I was under the impression it would be more ancient-ruins-curse feel, with a “real” villain or antagonist. This book is very unique, but I think it accidentally makes itself look to be slightly different.
I will be checking out other Scott Smith work! The writing was awesome - engaging and descriptive without dragging things out and getting boring. I read this in about three days total.
Spoilers; shortly after coming onto the hill, they find abandoned tents and supplies from an earlier group. Then, they find bodies (or, what’s remaining of bodies) including Mathias’ brother. There is a mineshaft on the hill that they try to explore, but Pablo breaks his back falling down it almost immediately and they struggle to take care of him and survive with minimal supplies.
I expected this book to be way more about actual ruins and potentially ancient civilization(s), but it was literally just a hill with a very big hole. The book was GREAT for suspense and body horror, but it was too slow and almost boring for my personal taste. I’m glad I read it, I just was expecting something else.
The death scenes were extremely unsettling, and the whole book was well written and uncomfortable. The antagonist of the novel was the vines - they are somehow alive? Going so far as to make noises that mimic speech, create traps for the people on the hill, and eventually eat any organic material on the hill.
The whole novel takes place over, roughly, four or so days and there are no chapters to separate events. This makes the book EXTREMELY unique in the sense that it’s continuous - readers get to see nearly every moment of every character the entire time they’re on this hill. The characters make matters worse for themselves over and over again, and I loved the problematic characters. I saw an earlier comment that claimed the female characters were written in a sexist way and I agree, but only somewhat - none of the characters are particularly lovable or enjoyable altogether, but they each have strengths and individual irritants AND positives. I liked to see this mix of what felt like realistic early-20-somethings.
Overall, I liked this book. I would definitely recommend it to friends and encourage others to read it, but I want to be clear - this is a SURVIVAL HORROR. Much of the book is simply waiting around for death to come, despite active efforts to survive. It’s a hopeless and desperate situation where the reader is more or less watching these characters succumb to something beyond themselves.
Conversely, I was under the impression it would be more ancient-ruins-curse feel, with a “real” villain or antagonist. This book is very unique, but I think it accidentally makes itself look to be slightly different.
I will be checking out other Scott Smith work! The writing was awesome - engaging and descriptive without dragging things out and getting boring. I read this in about three days total.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol
steph_vander_veen's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
wynplus1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy shit, I didn't think I'd like this book that much, seeing as how I wasn't as fond of the movie, but MY GOD. It's so good. The author's style of writing is engaging and the slow crawling horrors kept me enthralled.
my favorite character was Mathias and I wish he'd survived. He deserved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide
akevaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Self harm, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Excrement
popham05's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Body horror
Moderate: Medical trauma, Grief, Blood, Vomit, Gore, Alcoholism, and Self harm
hails_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Medical trauma, Vomit, Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Body horror, Suicide, Death, Alcohol, and Abandonment
lvwolt's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book wasn’t too bad, but I feel like it was a little slow. It wasn’t as scary as I was hoping, but I’m not scared easily by this type of horror. It finally picked up for me at about the final 100 pages.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Body horror