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ashleyntpaul 's review for:
This Wretched Valley
by Jenny Kiefer
I'm ultimately feeling super mixed about this book, because on one hand, I really did enjoy it! And on the other, there were aspects of it that I just kinda hated. So, let's start with the good. The first chapter, for example, was spectacular. I loved that we started the book with this mysterious discovery that set up a very Dyatlov Pass-y premise. The writing itself was also not bad. The descriptions of nature and gore and such were gross and awesome. I also enjoyed the nature-coming-alive aspect of it.
Now the story itself is where I started to have problems. It just didn't f l o w like I wanted it to. I really think I would have enjoyed this more if had more of an Annihilation spin - the hiking crew goes missing and then the story is about the investigative team looking for and finding them and the mysteries of the wilderness. The story we got was just kind of boring, really. The characters were meh... I felt pretty indifferent about all of them. I wasn't encouraged to like them via dialogue because it was just all very contrived and lacking in originality. I like using the F-word just as much as the next person, but the amount of unnecessary "fuck, fuck, fuck" in this book started grating on me. It just didn't feel real. All that said, I did still enjoy reading this. I liked the overall vibe of it, which was very The Ruins and Yellowjackets (without the cannibalism or compelling characters).
2.5/5 rounded up
Now the story itself is where I started to have problems. It just didn't f l o w like I wanted it to. I really think I would have enjoyed this more if had more of an Annihilation spin - the hiking crew goes missing and then the story is about the investigative team looking for and finding them and the mysteries of the wilderness. The story we got was just kind of boring, really. The characters were meh... I felt pretty indifferent about all of them. I wasn't encouraged to like them via dialogue because it was just all very contrived and lacking in originality. I like using the F-word just as much as the next person, but the amount of unnecessary "fuck, fuck, fuck" in this book started grating on me. It just didn't feel real. All that said, I did still enjoy reading this. I liked the overall vibe of it, which was very The Ruins and Yellowjackets (without the cannibalism or compelling characters).
2.5/5 rounded up