Reviews

The Raventree Society: Season One, the Complete Collection by J.E. Purrazzi

rmarcher's review

Go to review page

4.75

Official rating: 4.75 stars

“Actual” rating: 3 stars

Why the above discrepancy? This book was wonderfully done, but it wasn’t really for me. No, not because it’s horror and I almost never read horror. The problem was that I’m neither an emotional enough or a visual enough reader for this book.

The description in The Raventree Society was perfectly done, placed exactly where it needed to be; the ghosts were creepy and awful, and if this were a TV show and I was seeing them (exactly as they were described) on a screen, it’s doubtful I would have been able to finish the show because they were terrifying. But my brain doesn’t conjure up images very well when I’m reading, I get sporadic flashes of images as description is inserted, so this didn’t have the effect on me that I could have if I were more visual.

Likewise, the characters were all very distinct and well-developed, but none of them really mattered to me because I’m not an emotional reader. I have the same problem with just about any book I read, with very few exceptions. I don’t get connected to characters most of the time, so what happens to them doesn’t really affect me. If I were to rate this book according to how I felt about it, it would only earn three stars.

All that said, however, this book was well deserving of 4.75 stars (with a quarter star docked for minor grammatical issues and several instances of paragraphs that weren’t divided properly and made it hard to tell who was doing and saying what). The description was on point, the characters were deep and distinct, and Kyle’s internal struggle was well portrayed. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of horror who are more visual and emotionally invested readers than I am.

tahernandez's review

Go to review page

4.0

I have to start off this review by saying that I don't scare easily. It's really hard for a story or a horror movie or anything like that to make me actually afraid, and usually when I do get scared, it's because whatever threat the characters are experiencing in the situation is something that feels like it could actually happen. In other words, monsters and ghosts generally aren't all that scary to me. So I don't think there was ever a point in reading any of these episodes that I was actually scared. There were definitely some suspenseful parts, some creepy parts. But scary? Not for me. That's not a knock on the story in any way. I think there are definitely people who would be scared reading this stuff. And even though I wasn't scared, I don't think that took anything away from the reading experience. The ghosts and hauntings and overall creepy atmosphere were all still interesting to read about, and there were definitely some suspenseful moments that pulled me into the story and made me concerned for the characters' well-being.

And that's really what makes this series work. It's about the characters, particularly protagonist Kyle. The descriptions and the mystery and all the creepy things going on in these stories are well-written and definitely pull it all together, but none of that would have meant anything if I hadn't been invested in Kyle, and through him, Tyler. I said this in my review of the first episode, but I really appreciated Kyle's point-of-view. We're in his head the entire time, so it helps that he has a strong enough voice to carry the story. I have to admit that sometimes I found him to be really immature and frustrating. Especially in the beginning of episode 5, I found myself repeatedly asking, "Dude, what are you doing?" Still, he was definitely a complex, well-developed character, and his internal conflict often served to drive or build on some of the external conflict. I always love that.

My favorite two episodes of the series are episode 1 and episode 3. Episode 1 takes place in a hotel and was reminiscent of Stephen King's "1408," which is one of my favorite short stories (and horror movies) ever. It sets things up really well and brings the reader right into the action. Episode 3 was also especially good, and if there was any point in the season where I was the most creeped out, it definitely would have been here. The ending of episode 5 was also really good and packed a serious emotional punch. I was surprised to find myself getting suddenly a little choked up while reading the last couple of pages. I hadn't realized I was that emotionally invested in these characters, especially since it had been months between the time I finished episode 3 and finally finished up the last two episodes. I think that speaks to just how well the author does developing these characters.

If you like ghost stories, suspense, and complex characters, I'd definitely recommend giving The Raventree Society a try.
More...