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stephanieluxton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
This book is about Ben, a married man and father of three who is away on a business trip. When he gets to his hotel in the mountains, he goes for a walk by himself to enjoy the outdoors and his surroundings eventually devolve into a bizarre hellscape in which he cannot escape unless he keeps going.
Excellent concept.
My first issue with the book is the tone. It seems to flip back and forth between being a bizarre silly adventure then almost straddles a more extreme horror/slasher line, then just gets kind of bleak and depressing. This kind of book is fun to read because you don't always know what to expect next but I found myself not loving the powerlessness of the situation - it very much felt like Ben was a slave to his fate.
Ben's journey isn't easy but I felt annoyed that if there was a piece of information he needed, it generally fell right into his lap right before becoming relevant. He's given a series of tools that he basically uses right away. I think the story would have been more satisfying if he was more clever and able to outsmart his obstacles. He makes mostly really dumb decisions in the beginning and it feels like nearly every obstacle he overcomes is due to pure luck. For example:
I wish there were more characters in this book so that the sense of danger would feel more severe. When there's really only one character, the danger is lessened because the story must go on.
I will say that I did like the very end of the book. There's a couple little revelations that I appreciated and didn't expect.
In conclusion, I think the book had a lot of good ideas but I wish it had decided if it wanted to be spooky or silly as it's very difficult to pull off being both. This book reminded me a lot of Fairytale by Stephen King at times. Looking back on Ben's journey, it felt kind of pointless. I don't feel like he was introduced to us as being flawed enough at the start for me to appreciate the ways he's grown as a character. I feel like he just becomes more bitter as the story progresses (and rightfully so, I suppose).
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
keen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Blood, and Cannibalism
Minor: Alcoholism
wyabook234's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, and Cannibalism
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
smokehopper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Minor: Blood
msawyer77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
3martini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
chickensaregreat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
jenbosen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
dealingwithdragons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
Anybody triggered by unreality might want to give this a skip.