Scan barcode
itzbrianna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Cabin at the End of the World is a tense and complex tale of how choice, grief, and our beliefs can affect our lives. Tremblay does a fantastic job setting up the story and showing the differences of the world he’s building through a child’s eyes vs an adults. He is a master word smith with beautiful sentences woven to create poetic and meaningful stories for his characters.
There are several things Tremblay does well aside from his way with words. He is skilled at forcing the reader to reflect on the choices being presented to the characters causing them to analyze their own beliefs and choices they make or would make in a similar situation. He also does a great job of weaving in religion without it being preachy and instead focuses the questions on each character’s actions instead.
I enjoyed most of this story and loved how reflective it was from beginning to end. There were some things Tremblay could’ve done better though. The story is slow, which isn’t a problem in this case, but in certain parts the story is too slow with unnecessary descriptors that took me out of the story. There is a lot from this book that could’ve been cut to make the impact on us (the reader) stronger. Also the switch in POVs was sometimes jarring, but I get what the author was trying to do with that. It just could’ve been done better.
There is an event that happens which is a turning point in the story. After this moment, the novel starts to drag only finally picking back up when it’s almost the end. I think having the characters be two gay men with an adopted daughter was a perfect choice. And the differences between Andrew and Eric are apparent throughout the story. The most impactful part for me was the last few pages. I literally wept at the end, snot and hiccuping and everything.
I would recommend this book as it has beautiful imagery and is fun to analyze with friends or with a book club. The overarching plot is entertaining and I personally think the payoff is worth it. But I guess it just depends on how you’re interpreting the story.
There are several things Tremblay does well aside from his way with words. He is skilled at forcing the reader to reflect on the choices being presented to the characters causing them to analyze their own beliefs and choices they make or would make in a similar situation. He also does a great job of weaving in religion without it being preachy and instead focuses the questions on each character’s actions instead.
I enjoyed most of this story and loved how reflective it was from beginning to end. There were some things Tremblay could’ve done better though. The story is slow, which isn’t a problem in this case, but in certain parts the story is too slow with unnecessary descriptors that took me out of the story. There is a lot from this book that could’ve been cut to make the impact on us (the reader) stronger. Also the switch in POVs was sometimes jarring, but I get what the author was trying to do with that. It just could’ve been done better.
There is an event that happens which is a turning point in the story. After this moment, the novel starts to drag only finally picking back up when it’s almost the end. I think having the characters be two gay men with an adopted daughter was a perfect choice. And the differences between Andrew and Eric are apparent throughout the story. The most impactful part for me was the last few pages. I literally wept at the end, snot and hiccuping and everything.
I would recommend this book as it has beautiful imagery and is fun to analyze with friends or with a book club. The overarching plot is entertaining and I personally think the payoff is worth it. But I guess it just depends on how you’re interpreting the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Misogyny and Medical trauma
More...