Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill

36 reviews

charlieeee's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

The first part was fabulous. Some really good examinations of people growing apart; philosophy of life (for male-socialised people anyway); it was tense and had some great metaphors and other strong writing. And then part two happened where I would have sworn I was reading a completely different book altogether! The metaphors were over the top, made no sense in the context of the scene and the characters were really stereotypical - and the less about ‘Surtr’ and the constant repetition about her breasts, body and ‘smell’ of her genitalia the better. Was so disappointed by part two. So so disappointed.

And the reveal of the big beastie ‘the god’ in the woods at the end was such a let down. Everything was leading up to this point and the pay off was so disappointing - we barely get a paragraph. There’s letting your mind fill in the blanks and then there’s this.

tallesttrees's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

gethin_burke's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

rivercat0338's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Gun violence, and Alcohol

pastelbread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bumblebeefarts's review against another edition

 It just seems like the author really dislikes both fat people and women. Don’t even get him started on fat women. 

On top of all that, it’s way longer than it needed to be. Broken up by some scary moments in the first half that made me hope it would be worth finishing. This hope was unfounded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

I just found none of the characters likable and the pace to be extremely slow. As much as I wanted to finish it because it wasn’t that long of a book, I had to be real with myself that I wasn’t finding it enjoyable. Dare I say the most sinful thing a reader can say? “The movie was better.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

sunduck's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Act 1 is absolutely solid. Act 2 has great moments but feels out of place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, and Murder

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Adam Nevill is one of my favorite horror authors and The Ritual is a perfect example why. Nevill has amazing characterizations, suspenseful storytelling, and a plot with so many layers it’s hard to put down! 

Four college bros meet up again years later for a holiday weekend hiking in Sweden. The four all have unresolved tensions, which linger over the holiday, and worsen the trip. In hopes of ending it early, they decide to take an uncharted path through the forest. But what once seemed like a good idea quickly darkens as the four realize the forest is off in some way, and much bigger than anticipated. And there’s something following them …..

I love creature features, especially when the creature is based on regional lore. The Ritual has an excellent mix of survival horror and supernatural horror woven into myth and lore native to Norway and Sweden. The descriptions of the unknown creature that lurks in these woods alongside the slowly crumbling friendship of these men is truly horrifying.

Survival horror and Supernatural horror are my favorite genres, so to see the two combined so well was perfect. 

If you enjoy dark fantasy, supernatural horror, or survival horror I would recommend The Ritual for its excellent storytelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail