Scan barcode
tasharobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Read this one in order to discuss it on a podcast. (It was a great deep-dive conversation, with a ton to say about how the movie, novelization, and script all differ from each other.) It was an interesting read — very close to the movie in most regards, but with a few small bits that were in the screenplay and not in the movie, and with a visible attempt (familiar from other movie novelizations) to fill out the characters while not adding any dialogue. Unfortunately, the filling-out process turned Sitterson (the Robert Jenkins character) into a raging sexist, and Hadley (the Bradley Whitford character) into a racist. That isn't my interpretation — Sitterson (who narrates all the puppeteer segments, with Hadley relegated to just a background character) literally muses about what a sexist he is, and what a racist Hadley is.
This manifests throughout the book via Sitterson spending a LOT of time thinking about how "all women are mad" and holding them in contempt, while also ogling every woman he sees and thinking in detail about wanting to fuck them, especially Lin, the Chem head played in the movie by Amy Acker. (He also spends a fair bit of time focusing on her tight hair bun, which he thinks is so severe that styling her hair probably requires machine assistance.) Through Sitterson's ogling, we find out that Dana (Kristen Connolly) has shaved pubes, which "doesn't do it" for Sitterson, but he notes that Hadley really does like "baldies." I didn't need to know any of this.
Overall, it's a functional novelization. There are some poetic bits, usually built around violence and death. But it's nowhere near as satisfying, entertaining, funny, or scary as the movie.
This manifests throughout the book via Sitterson spending a LOT of time thinking about how "all women are mad" and holding them in contempt, while also ogling every woman he sees and thinking in detail about wanting to fuck them, especially Lin, the Chem head played in the movie by Amy Acker. (He also spends a fair bit of time focusing on her tight hair bun, which he thinks is so severe that styling her hair probably requires machine assistance.) Through Sitterson's ogling, we find out that Dana (Kristen Connolly) has shaved pubes, which "doesn't do it" for Sitterson, but he notes that Hadley really does like "baldies." I didn't need to know any of this.
Overall, it's a functional novelization. There are some poetic bits, usually built around violence and death. But it's nowhere near as satisfying, entertaining, funny, or scary as the movie.
dnemec's review
3.0
Never saw the movie, but this was pretty good. Much more of a story line than I thought there would be.
lucasgarner's review
2.0
The movie was wonderful, but this book only proved to me that, after reading another book by Tim Lebbon, the author has no writing ability what-so-ever. Lebbon writes like a high-schooler discovering the joys of writing for the first time. His writing is amateur. Poor sentence structure, cliched lines, over-describing everything, etc. He simply destroyed what the movie presented by offering a boring and uninspired rendition of the film. Do not read this book. Watch the movie instead.
lynnelovesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This was a *REALLY* disappointing read. SPOILERS:
The movie is fantastic, and if I had not seen the movie first and had read this first, I would not watch the movie. The author employs copious amounts of sexist behavior and thoughts to the character Sitterson, racist exclamations to the character Hadley, makes Curt an ape before the effects of the puppeteers take place, makes Holden into a bit of a pig, makes Truman sound like a green recruit, adds all sorts of things that don't happen in the movie and actually changes scenes and sometimes which characters do what, and added a bunch of unnecessary sexual scenes and sexual descriptions of characters and monsters that came across as obsessive. After a point, all the added sexism and racism started to feel like the author inserting their own opinions into the characters.
While this could have been a great opportunity to go deeper into the lore of the Old Gods, the Ritual, etc., this book did not.
The only reason this gets a 2/5 is because I love the movie so damn much and because Marty's character/character traits survive largely intact.
The movie is fantastic, and if I had not seen the movie first and had read this first, I would not watch the movie. The author employs copious amounts of sexist behavior and thoughts to the character Sitterson, racist exclamations to the character Hadley, makes Curt an ape before the effects of the puppeteers take place, makes Holden into a bit of a pig, makes Truman sound like a green recruit, adds all sorts of things that don't happen in the movie and actually changes scenes and sometimes which characters do what, and added a bunch of unnecessary sexual scenes and sexual descriptions of characters and monsters that came across as obsessive. After a point, all the added sexism and racism started to feel like the author inserting their own opinions into the characters.
While this could have been a great opportunity to go deeper into the lore of the Old Gods, the Ritual, etc., this book did not.
The only reason this gets a 2/5 is because I love the movie so damn much and because Marty's character/character traits survive largely intact.
alex_unabridged's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
shotgun_mark's review
4.0
I'm not the type of person who enjoys watching movies unless it's something that I'm dying to see. Cabin in the Woods was not a movie that I was dying to see, however it did look interesting. A lot of people who knew me suggested I see it because they thought I would like it, so I read the synopsis on Wikipedia. It was pretty neat!
So when I learned there was a book, I bought it and read it. The detail to this book was great, from the jiggling breasts to the cutting of throats. I wish there had been more details of various monsters doing away with people, but I'm sick like that.
This was a good book, but not for the faint of heart or of weak stomach. I cringed at a few parts, definitely. I would suggest this to anyone who enjoys gore and fighting and monsters (duh)
So when I learned there was a book, I bought it and read it. The detail to this book was great, from the jiggling breasts to the cutting of throats. I wish there had been more details of various monsters doing away with people, but I'm sick like that.
This was a good book, but not for the faint of heart or of weak stomach. I cringed at a few parts, definitely. I would suggest this to anyone who enjoys gore and fighting and monsters (duh)
jackphoenix's review
3.0
The humor and meta-awareness of the film doesn't quite translate on the page, but if you want to get a glimpse of "Kevin" in action, you'll only get it here.
boum's review
dark
mysterious
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
1.75
It was okay.
Real close to what I remembered of the movie. Well there was good SFX in the movie. If you've seen it or plan to, there is no point in reading the novel. Not much more information except a few names thrown in.
Meh. At least it is short and well written.
Real close to what I remembered of the movie. Well there was good SFX in the movie. If you've seen it or plan to, there is no point in reading the novel. Not much more information except a few names thrown in.
Meh. At least it is short and well written.