A review by carnbostrikesagain
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The concept of the body snatchers is iconic but the Pod People and their invasion is conveyed much better in the following film adaptations. 

This book, like the pod people is rather cold. The characters are alright, but it falls short when the human spirit and the power of human emotion are central concepts and the characters are flat. The men are stoic and smart. One woman is hysterical and the other doesn't really do anything.

 

when Becky comes up with the plan to escape the body snatchers by using their perception of her as a weak woman to surprise attack them I was surprised but also so happy cause she was doing something, the author allowed her to be a character for a brief second. But this is literally all she does in this book apart from be far too into Miles and just accept his weird ass behaviour. Like he kidnaps her during the night and she wakes up half way through and goes 'oh my god are we gonna fuck?' And seems real happy about it. It's weird.

Glad this book started the trend though. Without it we'd have no movie adaptations which really explore the insidious and evil of the body snatchers much more than this book.

The ending is so abrupt btw too.

the aliens (who by all accounts are winning) just sort of leave after their seed pods are burnt to a crisp. Idk why they didn't just grow more? Also they'd started expanding out earlier so the pods were already on their way outside of town to replace people. Idk it was weird.