ezekielbyu's review
2.0
So I'd read this back in middle school and remember being affected by how gnarly it gets--since it's ostensibly meant for a YA-and-under audience. Happy to report that the descriptions are still pretty raw. Might be a stretch, but I'd wager to say they'd affect even a sensitive adult. I wasn't surprised that I could no longer find the book on the shelves of the library where I'd initially checked it out all those years ago. The death scenes, in terms of sheer gross-out factor, is likely the best thing about this, though (in addition to a robust fascination on Zindel's part with the icky and rancid), as everything else is rather ordinary and cliche. Quick skim through memory lane.
dancpharmd's review
2.0
Think of the things that would make a perfect book. Mutant rats? Check. Mutant MAN-EATING rats? Double check. Mutant man-eating rats headed from a dump on Staten Island towards Manhattan to feast on limitless flesh? Triple effing check. How could a book like this go wrong, especially when it's written by esteemed Pulitzer Prize winning young adult author Paul Zindel?
Let me count the ways.
As I alluded to, Rats is all about gigantic mutant man-eating rats that bred underneath a Staten Island dump that had been sealed over with asphalt. I guess it was the buildup of methane that caused them to mutate, but they escape and much calamity ensues. I'll admit that I picked up Rats partially because it is a paltry 203 pages, but I thought that with a set up like that, I couldn't miss. I'd have an easy entry into my 25 books AND have an enjoyable time. It sure starts out with a bang as a landfill operator on his last day on the job decides to take his BB gun out to kill some dump rats. Like something out of Creepshow, the rats descend on him until he is nothing but pieces. All of this is described in great gory detail as if this were a Stephen King or a Brian Keene novel.
Then the main characters got introduced and it was all downhill from there.
Because this is a young adult novel, the main characters are teenagers, the son and daughter of the widowed landfill director. When the rats start coming up through toilets and other pipes, they know something is wrong. What follows is a confusing and nearly unreadable mess that I'm not sure I would have even been terribly interested in as a 14-year-old boy. Plot lines show up and then are dropped. Things are never adequately explained. There's some business with their pet rat Surfer - does he or does he not communicate with the rats? The world may never know.
There is the inevitable meetup with the king rat but at that point, the book is so cartoonish I half expected him to be wearing a crown and holding a scepter. The ending is nonsensical and abrupt and left me scratching my head.
Needless to say, I don't recommend this book at all to anyone of any age. The gory parts were cool, but the parts with the whiny kids and the ineffective adults more than canceled that out.
I expected much more out of the man that gave us The Pigman.
Let me count the ways.
As I alluded to, Rats is all about gigantic mutant man-eating rats that bred underneath a Staten Island dump that had been sealed over with asphalt. I guess it was the buildup of methane that caused them to mutate, but they escape and much calamity ensues. I'll admit that I picked up Rats partially because it is a paltry 203 pages, but I thought that with a set up like that, I couldn't miss. I'd have an easy entry into my 25 books AND have an enjoyable time. It sure starts out with a bang as a landfill operator on his last day on the job decides to take his BB gun out to kill some dump rats. Like something out of Creepshow, the rats descend on him until he is nothing but pieces. All of this is described in great gory detail as if this were a Stephen King or a Brian Keene novel.
Then the main characters got introduced and it was all downhill from there.
Because this is a young adult novel, the main characters are teenagers, the son and daughter of the widowed landfill director. When the rats start coming up through toilets and other pipes, they know something is wrong. What follows is a confusing and nearly unreadable mess that I'm not sure I would have even been terribly interested in as a 14-year-old boy. Plot lines show up and then are dropped. Things are never adequately explained. There's some business with their pet rat Surfer - does he or does he not communicate with the rats? The world may never know.
There is the inevitable meetup with the king rat but at that point, the book is so cartoonish I half expected him to be wearing a crown and holding a scepter. The ending is nonsensical and abrupt and left me scratching my head.
Needless to say, I don't recommend this book at all to anyone of any age. The gory parts were cool, but the parts with the whiny kids and the ineffective adults more than canceled that out.
I expected much more out of the man that gave us The Pigman.
slimeandslashers's review
4.0
This book doesn't seem like it has the highest reviews here. But I'm a sucker for animal attack stories, so I knew I was apt to like and enjoy this one. I was correct in my thinking. This book had some really gory and graphic descriptions for being a middle grade book. I loved that! And after reading a particular passage contained in this book about catching and processing tuna, I may never eat tuna fish again. The ending could have packed an even bigger punch for some, but I personally wasn't disappointed. The one criticism I can give is that one of the main kid characters isn't very likable. Otherwise, I really dug everything about this book.
Overall, I thought this read was a bloody good time, and because it's clearly geared towards younger readers, it was also a simple and fast paced read as well. I would recommend The Rats to any fans of animal attack or animal revenge stories who may be looking for a quick and easy read.
Overall, I thought this read was a bloody good time, and because it's clearly geared towards younger readers, it was also a simple and fast paced read as well. I would recommend The Rats to any fans of animal attack or animal revenge stories who may be looking for a quick and easy read.
bhalpin's review
2.0
I had this in my classroom library 20 years ago, and it literally got read to death. Kids who never picked up a book would devour this in a day. I remember reading and liking it then, so I decided to read it again.
Hoo boy, this does not hold up well. There are some good things going on, such as fantastic, unapolagetic gore that's still kind of shocking in a book for this age group, and some brilliant, horrifying images that are both gross and disturbing.
Unfortunately, there's really nothing holding it together. The characters barely exist, and the writing is bad.
It's bad.
Bad.
Like this.
And then there's the part where the kid calls the rat "my best pal!" People, I am here to tell you that nobody has talked like that since probably the 1960's. I was in elementary school in the 1970's, and I have a clear memory of a bunch of kids in my 2nd grade class using "pal" ironically.
So, yeah. Some decent horrific images, but not much of a book.
Hoo boy, this does not hold up well. There are some good things going on, such as fantastic, unapolagetic gore that's still kind of shocking in a book for this age group, and some brilliant, horrifying images that are both gross and disturbing.
Unfortunately, there's really nothing holding it together. The characters barely exist, and the writing is bad.
It's bad.
Bad.
Like this.
And then there's the part where the kid calls the rat "my best pal!" People, I am here to tell you that nobody has talked like that since probably the 1960's. I was in elementary school in the 1970's, and I have a clear memory of a bunch of kids in my 2nd grade class using "pal" ironically.
So, yeah. Some decent horrific images, but not much of a book.
More...