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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
An ensemble novel about horrors in blizzards, Snowblind is genuinely frightening. Like, lying in bed reading and something creaks and you gasp and stare at the door frightening. But upon closer examination, I'm not sure how Golden achieved it. There is a great deal of foreshadowing, but very little description. There are plenty of characters, but not much characterization. And when the story jumps 12 years into the future and characters start merging, sometimes the confusion impedes the scares. The cover helps the mood, but the title never really comes across. And by the end, there are obvious editing flaws-- like the character who we're told lives in Seattle and we get lots of descriptions of Seattle. But then, when talking to another character, she says she lives in Portland. What now? So, yeah, scary. Jumpy, spooky, maybe keep you up a little late scary. But not that well constructed.
i loved everything about this book. how part 1 ended and then the time jump was great. i think the only thing i didn’t like was how the book ended. it made me want MORE
*****SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW*****
I was prepared to rate this novel as 2 stars until near the very end when the straw that breaks the camel's back appears: Miri, one of the main characters, lives in Seattle in the early stages of this novel. In the last few pages, when she is back at her childhood home in New England, she speaks of living in Portland. I had to search back through the novel to find the initial reference to where Miri had been living just to make sure I was not remembering incorrectly, but my memory was accurate. The author himself as well as his editors missed this glaring discrepancy. It's completely ludicrous for a mistake like this not to have been noticed and corrected.
My expectations for Snowblind were wholly disappointed. The early reviews promised a chilling ghost story set during a fierce New England blizzard. Stephen King even gives it a great blurb on the cover, raving that "this one is the real deal . . . a killer." Sadly, it's not the real deal, and the only thing killed was my time--time that could have been better spent reading a good novel.
Why, then, did I finish this novel? Well, as I said earlier, I had intended to give the novel 2 stars instead of just 1, and this was because the characters are, largely, well developed and interesting, and that kept me reading--at least until the last 100 pages, which were just painful. But after reading the first 200-plus pages, I had to forge my way to the end: I'd come this far; I couldn't turn back now.
Now, I like a good scary ghost story or horror story as much as--if not more than--the next person, but there needs to be at least a modicum of credibility to the ghost story. I can only suspend my disbelief so much. Snowblind stretched the suspension of my disbelief to the point of breaking--and then broke it.
The ghosts--or ice men, as they're called--in this story accompany terrible blizzards. Exactly where these ice men come from or why they are so malevolent we are never told. But the ice men are killers. They draw strength from blizzards. Why they only show up in some blizzards and not others, we don't know. How they choose their victims, we are never told. What motivates them to kill, we are never told. They're just evil ice men. And we readers are expected to accept this without wanting any further background.
In this story, the ice men kill dozens of people in a blizzard in Coventry, a small New England town. Twelve years later, in another terrible blizzard, the ice men and the ghosts of those they killed all return. Some of the ghosts possess the bodies of residents of Coventry, and hilarity ensues. Okay, so no hilarity actually ensues--just abject ridiculousness.
At one point in the story, some of the protagonists shoot at and wound but do not kill the ice men. These are ghosts, these ice men, but somehow, they can be wounded by bullets. Not ghost bullets, not silver bullets, not bullets enchanted by witches--nope, these are just regular old bullets. Why can the bullets only wound but not kill the ice men? We are never told.
It would be one thing if, in spite of all these problems, the story was actually frightening or terrifying in some way. It's not remotely scary. You could read this book all alone in a cold house on a winter's night with a blizzard howling outside and strange noises emanating both from within and outside your house, and this book would engender not the least bit of fright but only scorn or even laughter at its utter absurdity.
I hate to be so negative because the author is actually fairly decent at drawing his characters and at pulling the readers into the story--at least initially. The story, however, just grows more and more ridiculous and incredible as it goes along, and when I finally encountered the Portland-Seattle discrepancy, it was just too much.
I was prepared to rate this novel as 2 stars until near the very end when the straw that breaks the camel's back appears: Miri, one of the main characters, lives in Seattle in the early stages of this novel. In the last few pages, when she is back at her childhood home in New England, she speaks of living in Portland. I had to search back through the novel to find the initial reference to where Miri had been living just to make sure I was not remembering incorrectly, but my memory was accurate. The author himself as well as his editors missed this glaring discrepancy. It's completely ludicrous for a mistake like this not to have been noticed and corrected.
My expectations for Snowblind were wholly disappointed. The early reviews promised a chilling ghost story set during a fierce New England blizzard. Stephen King even gives it a great blurb on the cover, raving that "this one is the real deal . . . a killer." Sadly, it's not the real deal, and the only thing killed was my time--time that could have been better spent reading a good novel.
Why, then, did I finish this novel? Well, as I said earlier, I had intended to give the novel 2 stars instead of just 1, and this was because the characters are, largely, well developed and interesting, and that kept me reading--at least until the last 100 pages, which were just painful. But after reading the first 200-plus pages, I had to forge my way to the end: I'd come this far; I couldn't turn back now.
Now, I like a good scary ghost story or horror story as much as--if not more than--the next person, but there needs to be at least a modicum of credibility to the ghost story. I can only suspend my disbelief so much. Snowblind stretched the suspension of my disbelief to the point of breaking--and then broke it.
The ghosts--or ice men, as they're called--in this story accompany terrible blizzards. Exactly where these ice men come from or why they are so malevolent we are never told. But the ice men are killers. They draw strength from blizzards. Why they only show up in some blizzards and not others, we don't know. How they choose their victims, we are never told. What motivates them to kill, we are never told. They're just evil ice men. And we readers are expected to accept this without wanting any further background.
In this story, the ice men kill dozens of people in a blizzard in Coventry, a small New England town. Twelve years later, in another terrible blizzard, the ice men and the ghosts of those they killed all return. Some of the ghosts possess the bodies of residents of Coventry, and hilarity ensues. Okay, so no hilarity actually ensues--just abject ridiculousness.
At one point in the story, some of the protagonists shoot at and wound but do not kill the ice men. These are ghosts, these ice men, but somehow, they can be wounded by bullets. Not ghost bullets, not silver bullets, not bullets enchanted by witches--nope, these are just regular old bullets. Why can the bullets only wound but not kill the ice men? We are never told.
It would be one thing if, in spite of all these problems, the story was actually frightening or terrifying in some way. It's not remotely scary. You could read this book all alone in a cold house on a winter's night with a blizzard howling outside and strange noises emanating both from within and outside your house, and this book would engender not the least bit of fright but only scorn or even laughter at its utter absurdity.
I hate to be so negative because the author is actually fairly decent at drawing his characters and at pulling the readers into the story--at least initially. The story, however, just grows more and more ridiculous and incredible as it goes along, and when I finally encountered the Portland-Seattle discrepancy, it was just too much.
1.5 star rating
I've never read a Christopher Golden book before, maybe I'll read another one in the future. To preface my (scathing) review I wanna say I don't think Mr Golden is a crap author, but I know he phoned in this book. It reeks of amateur.
Snowblind is an enormous disappointment. The writing is not particularly descriptive or powerful. The characters were flat and mostly defined by their occupations. Women characters are ridiculously simplistic, ineffectual, pathetic and cringe-worthy. It was a poor decision to grant men all the 'cool' jobs and the heroics. Almost every female character was called or referred to as a bitch, bitching, or bitchy. Clearly a lack of diverse and creative writing, not to mention good taste.
Not sure why the language was so basic in Snowblind. Perhaps the most unforgivable sin was the heavily stilted dialogue, it was completely devoid of realism and life. Oh, wait, the heavily repetitive narration and selection of words might of been the most egregious error. I know there aren't a million ways to describe a snowscape or driving a car, but what's with all the 'strode', 'whipping', 'tamping down' and freezing in place? New scenes explained previous scenes and sentiments. It stank of strung together instalments of a serial novel.
Overall the novel suffered from a desperate lack of clarity and direction. It's riddled with inconsistencies. Baxter's bullet did nada but the cops could blow the monsters away? Nico was a super ghost because why exactly? (also, the italics for Nico's dialogue were missing on page 386). Monsters knocked on a door once to lure Martha to the door then lost the capacity to proactively trick people? Even little things like 'it was mid-afternoon' *turn page* 'it's only quarter past one' made me shake my head.
The ice men were completely underwhelming, ill-defined and constantly reworked for the author's convenience. The criminal duo of Baxter and Franco were pitiful. Only thing that scared me about Snowblind was on page 340, when Keenan folded over a page in his book to mark his place. Not cool, bro.
Was I the only reader that thought there was enormous potential sublimated into gross missed opportunity when the beleaguered townsfolk didn't end up making a last stand at The Vault? Used to be a bank, secure location, provisions, big-ass fireplaces... No? Too obvious?
The printed words ran deeply into the crevice of the spine, making it absurdly hard to read with one hand, never mind the tremendous gaps between words and lines. I'm not accustomed to losing my place on a page on a regular basis, so that was a new and unnecessary experience.
Inspite of my long-winded and frankly berating review, I can recommend Snowblind to a specific subset of folks. If you're stuck in the back of a car in Florida, in the midst of a broiling summer, miserably being shuttled to a vapid vacation spot and need something easy, uncomplicated and cooling to read, give Snowblind a shot.
I've never read a Christopher Golden book before, maybe I'll read another one in the future. To preface my (scathing) review I wanna say I don't think Mr Golden is a crap author, but I know he phoned in this book. It reeks of amateur.
Snowblind is an enormous disappointment. The writing is not particularly descriptive or powerful. The characters were flat and mostly defined by their occupations. Women characters are ridiculously simplistic, ineffectual, pathetic and cringe-worthy. It was a poor decision to grant men all the 'cool' jobs and the heroics. Almost every female character was called or referred to as a bitch, bitching, or bitchy. Clearly a lack of diverse and creative writing, not to mention good taste.
Not sure why the language was so basic in Snowblind. Perhaps the most unforgivable sin was the heavily stilted dialogue, it was completely devoid of realism and life. Oh, wait, the heavily repetitive narration and selection of words might of been the most egregious error. I know there aren't a million ways to describe a snowscape or driving a car, but what's with all the 'strode', 'whipping', 'tamping down' and freezing in place? New scenes explained previous scenes and sentiments. It stank of strung together instalments of a serial novel.
Overall the novel suffered from a desperate lack of clarity and direction. It's riddled with inconsistencies. Baxter's bullet did nada but the cops could blow the monsters away? Nico was a super ghost because why exactly? (also, the italics for Nico's dialogue were missing on page 386). Monsters knocked on a door once to lure Martha to the door then lost the capacity to proactively trick people? Even little things like 'it was mid-afternoon' *turn page* 'it's only quarter past one' made me shake my head.
The ice men were completely underwhelming, ill-defined and constantly reworked for the author's convenience. The criminal duo of Baxter and Franco were pitiful. Only thing that scared me about Snowblind was on page 340, when Keenan folded over a page in his book to mark his place. Not cool, bro.
Was I the only reader that thought there was enormous potential sublimated into gross missed opportunity when the beleaguered townsfolk didn't end up making a last stand at The Vault? Used to be a bank, secure location, provisions, big-ass fireplaces... No? Too obvious?
The printed words ran deeply into the crevice of the spine, making it absurdly hard to read with one hand, never mind the tremendous gaps between words and lines. I'm not accustomed to losing my place on a page on a regular basis, so that was a new and unnecessary experience.
Inspite of my long-winded and frankly berating review, I can recommend Snowblind to a specific subset of folks. If you're stuck in the back of a car in Florida, in the midst of a broiling summer, miserably being shuttled to a vapid vacation spot and need something easy, uncomplicated and cooling to read, give Snowblind a shot.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the first Christopher Golden book I'm reading that isn't Buffy the Vampire Slayer-related. I'm very excited. Also, one chapter in and I am terribly appreciative to be reading this in the hot Spring of Louisiana.
----
Hmm.
I'm kinda disappointed.
If GoodReads hadn't gone down for a day, there would've been a status update midway through wherein I talked about how intensely creepy the book was. That status update would've been well earned, and I don't take it back.
But here's the thing. I can really tell that Christopher Golden has written YA. Really really tell. Because as super duper duper creepy as this book started out to be, it ended up way too soft and fluffy for my taste.
Also, 18 people died in the original blizzard. And thank goodness that they were all good, upstanding people who only wanted to come home to their families. None were in need of doing battle to ensure they would never have to return to that icy existence again.
I mean, really? The closest we came was Martha inhabiting Grace. That part of the book was what earned the status update. She was so quietly creepy, and I was anticipating her becoming one of those horrible evil children I love and hate all at the same time in the horror genre. But when the going got tough, she left without a fuss. It was entirely too anticlimactic.
I cared less about Jake and Isaac than I did Cherie and Doug, which is a shame because the story of Isaac being taken originally was far more compelling. Doug trying to come to grips with the fact that his normally psycho on-off girlfriend is suddenly sugary sweet was interesting to watch, but again, where's the suspense?
Oh, and I cared basically nothing for the cop storylines, Miri/Niko/and that woman, or the married couple. I liked their origination story, but their married struggles didn't seem all that struggley to me. Like, "We had a fight, but now we're going to make dinner and have sex and everything is okay." Color me jaded, I expected a bit more hostility from the set up.
Maybe I was setting myself up for disappointment because this has been hailed as reminiscent of early Stephen King. Early Stephen King was my gateway drug to horror novels and movies. That's my jam, really. Christine, Cujo, Carrie, all of that was a major part of my childhood, and influenced my reading for years to come.
This is no early Stephen King. Very very well written, but it lost steam halfway through.
And I still don't understand what that ending was about.
----
Hmm.
I'm kinda disappointed.
If GoodReads hadn't gone down for a day, there would've been a status update midway through wherein I talked about how intensely creepy the book was. That status update would've been well earned, and I don't take it back.
But here's the thing. I can really tell that Christopher Golden has written YA. Really really tell. Because as super duper duper creepy as this book started out to be, it ended up way too soft and fluffy for my taste.
Spoiler
I mean, were the ice men scary? Absolutely. But was the description of the ice man ripping something vapor-y out of their victim terrifying? No. Kinda struck me as silly, truth be told.Also, 18 people died in the original blizzard. And thank goodness that they were all good, upstanding people who only wanted to come home to their families. None were in need of doing battle to ensure they would never have to return to that icy existence again.
I mean, really? The closest we came was Martha inhabiting Grace. That part of the book was what earned the status update. She was so quietly creepy, and I was anticipating her becoming one of those horrible evil children I love and hate all at the same time in the horror genre. But when the going got tough, she left without a fuss. It was entirely too anticlimactic.
I cared less about Jake and Isaac than I did Cherie and Doug, which is a shame because the story of Isaac being taken originally was far more compelling. Doug trying to come to grips with the fact that his normally psycho on-off girlfriend is suddenly sugary sweet was interesting to watch, but again, where's the suspense?
Oh, and I cared basically nothing for the cop storylines, Miri/Niko/and that woman, or the married couple. I liked their origination story, but their married struggles didn't seem all that struggley to me. Like, "We had a fight, but now we're going to make dinner and have sex and everything is okay." Color me jaded, I expected a bit more hostility from the set up.
Maybe I was setting myself up for disappointment because this has been hailed as reminiscent of early Stephen King. Early Stephen King was my gateway drug to horror novels and movies. That's my jam, really. Christine, Cujo, Carrie, all of that was a major part of my childhood, and influenced my reading for years to come.
This is no early Stephen King. Very very well written, but it lost steam halfway through.
And I still don't understand what that ending was about.
tense
medium-paced
I would give at 3.5. It is not a conventional horror story which some people may not like but it did not bother me. Most of the characters I found likeable.
I felt most of the book is about the effects of the horrific event on the people in the town itself rather than scary events themselves. The end gets suspenseful.
If you were to want to read the book, I would look at the book as small New England towns in snow storms rather than a horror story.
I felt most of the book is about the effects of the horrific event on the people in the town itself rather than scary events themselves. The end gets suspenseful.
If you were to want to read the book, I would look at the book as small New England towns in snow storms rather than a horror story.