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small_alex 's review for:
The Ruins
by Scott Smith
DID NOT FINISH: 29%
DNFed on p. 93 out of 319 (29%)
Yeah this just isn't my type of horror. The women are actually insufferable like they have no personality outside of insecure, annoying, and whiny. They're framed so differently from the men (who are also annoying but significantly less so). This is why I don't usually read male authors bc not only are the women vilified, but one of them is also IMMEDIATELY SA'ed and then expected to brush it off like nothing happened. We get to read her internal monologue of gaslighting herself about overreacting. It's horrendous. The other women is basically described as a total bitch, which is a label that she lets dictate her actions in an attempt not to upset anyone meanwhile the men still constantly just monologue about how much she sucks. It's actually so frustrating to read.
And yeah, this is horror, so you could make the argument that the characters are supposed to be insufferable and that reading it is supposed to make you feel bad. If that's the horror you like, then this is probably a great book for you! Bc it did actually make me feel unwell. Like the tone is very well established. I just hate every character, and it's pretty much impossible to root for them, so the mystery of the vines and the hill are simply not compelling enough to convince me to keep trudging through the constant stream-of-consciousness monologues.
Yeah this just isn't my type of horror. The women are actually insufferable like they have no personality outside of insecure, annoying, and whiny. They're framed so differently from the men (who are also annoying but significantly less so). This is why I don't usually read male authors bc not only are the women vilified, but one of them is also IMMEDIATELY SA'ed and then expected to brush it off like nothing happened. We get to read her internal monologue of gaslighting herself about overreacting. It's horrendous. The other women is basically described as a total bitch, which is a label that she lets dictate her actions in an attempt not to upset anyone meanwhile the men still constantly just monologue about how much she sucks. It's actually so frustrating to read.
And yeah, this is horror, so you could make the argument that the characters are supposed to be insufferable and that reading it is supposed to make you feel bad. If that's the horror you like, then this is probably a great book for you! Bc it did actually make me feel unwell. Like the tone is very well established. I just hate every character, and it's pretty much impossible to root for them, so the mystery of the vines and the hill are simply not compelling enough to convince me to keep trudging through the constant stream-of-consciousness monologues.