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A review by tyto_alba
That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana
2.0
I was going to try to write this review without spoilers, but I really can't. I'll try to be a little bit vague, but certain things I'll just have to say outright. So consider this me getting my thoughts out as opposed to giving a true review.
Firstly, I really couldn't put this book down until almost the end, then things began to get......less compelling. No big deal. I just didn't find myself caring as much after they all decide to go back into the woods after literally everything they just learned. It was a pretty dumb move, so it was clearly no surprise when things go to literal hell. Plus, it was so glaringly obvious that Scott was a bad guy, that I was just rolling my eyes at the characters as opposed to fearing for them.
...But then the last few pages happened. It felt like the entire motivations of a certain character did a full 180 without a single explanation. Magic? Demons? Threats? Anything?! Nope, just.....because the book needed to end that way, I guess. I love both happy and non-happy endings, as long as they're GOOD. And Triana is usually really good at ending his stories with a big bang, but this ending wasn't satisfying in any way. This character had really strong feelings about their life and the way they wanted it to go, and there could have been more build-up to them eventual succumbing to despair, that that didn't happen. They just change everything about their personality for zero reason.
This is especially terrible, as the idea that a woman in particular has no free will and should just allow herself to become a thing to be bred until.... she dies? The ending isn't really clear on what will become of her. And the babies will just be sacrificed to the demons...because that's what Jesus wants? And I'm not even a Christian, but this actually angers me. There COULD have been a statement/metaphor here about how religion can cause people to do horrible things or how people can become extremist in their views, or even how the more extreme/conservative sects of Christianity can view woman as little more than baby factories that must fully submit themselves to the whims of men.* But....this wasn't even that. The narrative goes out of it's way to say how not-racist and not-sexist the Congregation is, so I'm not even sure if it's trying to say the Congregation is CORRECT in its actions or not. It just felt like an unnecessary "twist" that doubles as a pointless jab at Christianity.
*Allegedly. This is mainly cultural hearsay on my part; might simply be certain places that are more conservative slip their views into the execution of their religious beliefs, or vice versa. I'm not a sociologist.
So, yeah. Maybe there IS some kind of statement or meaning here, but if there is I missed it entirely. And even if there was, the utter destruction of the character's personality doesn't lend to any real purpose. It isn't built up to anything or from anything. I know there's the "brainwashing" that happened when she was younger, but....that doesn't make sense either because she left for DECADES and also went to therapy. And the "ceremony" they endured* isn't actual brainwashing. Traumatizing, yes, but it doesn't constitute brainwashing. Plus, we don't see actual magic outside of the demons, WHICH THE CONGREGATION IS ACTIVELY AGAINST. So again, there's no explanation for her change of heart.
*Trigger warning for sexual assault of minors. This particular reveal is not given any kind of gravity, which is rather shocking, again making me wonder what the book is trying to actually SAY about the Congregation's actions.
In conclusion: man I'm disappointed. I love Kristopher Triana's softer extreme horror/non-extreme horror, but this wasn't satisfying in any way. I'll still read more of his work, but I wouldn't really recommend this.
Firstly, I really couldn't put this book down until almost the end, then things began to get......less compelling. No big deal. I just didn't find myself caring as much after they all decide to go back into the woods after literally everything they just learned. It was a pretty dumb move, so it was clearly no surprise when things go to literal hell. Plus, it was so glaringly obvious that Scott was a bad guy, that I was just rolling my eyes at the characters as opposed to fearing for them.
...But then the last few pages happened. It felt like the entire motivations of a certain character did a full 180 without a single explanation. Magic? Demons? Threats? Anything?! Nope, just.....because the book needed to end that way, I guess. I love both happy and non-happy endings, as long as they're GOOD. And Triana is usually really good at ending his stories with a big bang, but this ending wasn't satisfying in any way. This character had really strong feelings about their life and the way they wanted it to go, and there could have been more build-up to them eventual succumbing to despair, that that didn't happen. They just change everything about their personality for zero reason.
This is especially terrible, as the idea that a woman in particular has no free will and should just allow herself to become a thing to be bred until.... she dies? The ending isn't really clear on what will become of her. And the babies will just be sacrificed to the demons...because that's what Jesus wants? And I'm not even a Christian, but this actually angers me. There COULD have been a statement/metaphor here about how religion can cause people to do horrible things or how people can become extremist in their views, or even how the more extreme/conservative sects of Christianity can view woman as little more than baby factories that must fully submit themselves to the whims of men.* But....this wasn't even that. The narrative goes out of it's way to say how not-racist and not-sexist the Congregation is, so I'm not even sure if it's trying to say the Congregation is CORRECT in its actions or not. It just felt like an unnecessary "twist" that doubles as a pointless jab at Christianity.
*Allegedly. This is mainly cultural hearsay on my part; might simply be certain places that are more conservative slip their views into the execution of their religious beliefs, or vice versa. I'm not a sociologist.
So, yeah. Maybe there IS some kind of statement or meaning here, but if there is I missed it entirely. And even if there was, the utter destruction of the character's personality doesn't lend to any real purpose. It isn't built up to anything or from anything. I know there's the "brainwashing" that happened when she was younger, but....that doesn't make sense either because she left for DECADES and also went to therapy. And the "ceremony" they endured* isn't actual brainwashing. Traumatizing, yes, but it doesn't constitute brainwashing. Plus, we don't see actual magic outside of the demons, WHICH THE CONGREGATION IS ACTIVELY AGAINST. So again, there's no explanation for her change of heart.
*Trigger warning for sexual assault of minors. This particular reveal is not given any kind of gravity, which is rather shocking, again making me wonder what the book is trying to actually SAY about the Congregation's actions.
In conclusion: man I'm disappointed. I love Kristopher Triana's softer extreme horror/non-extreme horror, but this wasn't satisfying in any way. I'll still read more of his work, but I wouldn't really recommend this.