Reviews

What would you do if someone told you that their uncle was only pretending to have emotions? You’d probably think they were either lying or delusional. For Dr Miles Bennell, he dismisses the patient to a psychiatrist. And then he finds the giant seed pods, which slowly grow into perfect replicas of a person. What follows is a slow burn of a horror/sci-fi novel that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let you go. I loved how ordinary the story starts out, but as it goes on, it starts to unsettle you as you discover what is truly going on. I loved how the book mixed the ordinary everyday life of a small town and then threw in several extraordinary twists. This book had great characters and a brilliant story that has to be read at least once in your lifetime.

alex_unabridged's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

rensparks's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

gave NOTHING.

invisible_universes's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I was shocked by how much I liked this book! I picked it out not out of interest, but because it was short and met a sort-of tricky requirement for a reading challenge I'm doing (it has a yellow spine). I figured I'd put a couple hours in, and much like with Treasure Island I would walk away a little exhausted but with an okay understanding of the plot, if nothing else.

To my surprise, the book wasn't exhausting at all. It was easy to read, especially for a classic, and the plot, though simple enough, was very compelling. It doesn't really read as horror in the way I usually imagine, with the in your face spooks and gore. It's more insidiously terrifying, where nothing at face value sounds all that bad, but when you think about it, as the book asks you to, it's deeply horrifying.

I also loved the ending, which I think is something a lot of horror books struggle with.

Watching the main characters fight so hard against their foe, watching them fail again and again, watching even what had to be their final plan fall apart in their hands... it felt almost like those moments in modern grimdark stuff where you're just sort of like... alright, I get it, it's all pointless. And then the pods start to float away and suddenly, even before it clicks for the main character, the way in which they succeeded falls into place. This idea of continuing to fight, even when it doesn't look like you'll win... this concept that it doesn't matter if you're doomed, you just have to keep going, have to keep fighting for another minute, another hour, another chance. It hits so well, a rousing endorsement of the human spirit and just the whole idea of hope.

I don't much go in for symbolism or literary merit or depth or anything, but good god if this ending didn't feel like it meant something.

All in all, this book caught me off guard, because it's good. Not 'good for a classic' or 'good for it's time' or 'good for a genre I don't really read'. It's just good, full stop and I never would have guessed that before picking it up.

sdeeim's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

scottjp's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This was a timely and relevant read for me as most of my friends seem to have been replaced by pod people.

criminolly's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

A great story, and tautly written, but the movies spoiled it a little for me

More...