coleyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The first half of this book was exciting, mysterious, tense and thrilling! I got to the end of the first half and it felt like an ending… but I still had half a book left? The next half was the weirdest storyline and a total 180 from where we had just been. I don’t know what it added for me, or if it was the right thing to do for the book but I enjoyed the very end with our main character.
The first half of the story took a long time to tell and we only spanned about 3 days, although it was still enjoyable. The last half felt rushed, yet took ages, spanning well over a week.
The writing style was very descriptive and flowery, although not in a pleasant storytelling way. It’s set in a scary forest with malevolent forces at play, so what can you expect. This was my first Nevill so I’m unsure if I enjoyed his writing and think I need to give another book a go!
I ended up watching the film right away and it’s quite different. I get you don’t have as long in films to lay out the backstory of the characters and play out all the intense descriptions. But, I think I enjoyed the book more.
Overall, I’m giving Adam Nevill another chance to impress me even more. This one had a lot of potential but took too long and had me drifting at parts.
The first half of the story took a long time to tell and we only spanned about 3 days, although it was still enjoyable. The last half felt rushed, yet took ages, spanning well over a week.
The writing style was very descriptive and flowery, although not in a pleasant storytelling way. It’s set in a scary forest with malevolent forces at play, so what can you expect. This was my first Nevill so I’m unsure if I enjoyed his writing and think I need to give another book a go!
I ended up watching the film right away and it’s quite different. I get you don’t have as long in films to lay out the backstory of the characters and play out all the intense descriptions. But, I think I enjoyed the book more.
Overall, I’m giving Adam Nevill another chance to impress me even more. This one had a lot of potential but took too long and had me drifting at parts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
saintghost's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Fatphobia, Murder, and Body shaming
Minor: Addiction, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
erikaretia's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, and Violence
hofsten's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
there are two parts in this book, the first part is 5 stars but the second is 2 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Vomit, and Violence
miranda_redmond's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I enjoyed the first half but didn't like the weird turn it took towards the end. Also not a fan of the misogyny that keeps popping up throughout the book any time a female character is mentioned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
ggcd1981's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Eu tinha interesse em ler os livros de Adam Nevill havia um tempo e tendo a perspectiva de assistir à adaptação para filme de The Ritual resolvi ler o livro antes. Em geral achei a obra uma sólida história de terror, porém com alguns problemas. Em primeiro lugar os personagens, os quais eram mais numerosos do que a sinopse deu a entender. Inicialmente se tem os 4 “amigos da universidade”, Luke, Hutch, Phil e Dom que após não se verem por alguns anos resolvem ir juntos em uma viagem pela natureza escandinava no Círculo Ártico, onde acabam tomando um atalho por uma floresta ancestral com entidades antigas e sinistras. Isso dá início ao pesadelo do grupo. Desses 4 personagens iniciais apenas Luke, e talvez um pouco Dom, são mais aprofundados. Luke é o protagonista e gostei dele como personagem, porém alguns diálogos combinados com a narração de David Thorpe fizeram o personagem em alguns momentos parecer choramingar muito, tendo longos momentos de auto piedade. Apesar de gostar de Luke esses elementos desgastaram um pouco o personagem para mim. The Ritual teve momentos sólidos de terror e alguns momentos tediosos de diálogos. No geral foi, em maior parte, eficiente como uma história de terror. Dou 3.75 estrelas.
Spoiler
Os personagens introduzidos na segunda metade do livro, Loki, Fenris, Surtr, e a velha (acredito que nenhum nome foi dado a ela no texto) foram bons vilões secundários, porém foram mal utilizados em alguns momentos. Isso me leva a atmosfera, que foi bastante eficiente em grande parte da narrativa. A floresta antiga e sombria, a impressão de que havia sempre algo os seguindo e os observando. A ideia de que havia todo um povo que servia o que quer que seja que estava na floresta e que a velha era a última desse povo foi assustadora. Contudo, houveram momentos em que o autor quebrou a atmosfera desnecessariamente, deixando a segunda metade do livro mais lenta e menos aterrorizante. Nevill escreveu longos diálogos entre Luke e Loki, entre Luke e Fenris, e até mesmo longos monólogos mentais para Luke. Todos estes fizeram a narrativa perder ritmo e se arrastar quebrando o clima de terror, pois se Luke estava tendo longas conversas racionais com seus captores a situação se torna mais mundana e menos sinistra e assustadora. O terror da metade final do livro teria sido mais eficiente se os diálogos, e no caso de Luke monólogos, tivessem sido mais diretos, menos prolixos. A escrita em geral foi boa, a não ser pelos problemas já citados (diálogos e monólogos longos e desnecessários). O enredo teve reviravoltas inesperadas. Confesso que a mudança de cenário da segunda parte da obra me surpreendeu. Do início ao meio da narrativa foi quando a história fluiu melhor, porém as sequências finais foram interessantes. O final foi cheio de ação apesar da cena de encerramento deixar a história em aberto. A lógica interna a história foi um pouco turva, poucas explicações foram dadas sobre o que era a entidade que caçava na floresta. Menções foram feitas a figura do demônio existente nas Religiões Cristãs, também foi dado o nome de Odin a entidade (apesar que não sei quão fiel é este livro as religiões nórdicas). Durante grande parte do tempo tive a impressão de que a entidade seria algo antigo que não necessariamente tinha um nome e os personagens humanos tentaram encaixa-la em figuras de religiões convencionais. Além disso porque este ser poupou Luke na floresta? Teria sido apenas para que a velha, Loki e os outros, após ter encontrado e trazido Luke para a antiga casa, o entregassem em sacrifício? Burocrática essa entidade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Bullying, Death, Car accident, Kidnapping, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Sexism
corruptednatz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Those poor 4 guys in the woods…they went through HELL. And I felt their pain. I knew the trip was screwed from the very beginning because the 2 unfit men hurt themselves. It was literally on page 5 😂 I also like how the monster in the woods like to decorate the trees with bodies like it Christmas. Very jolly.
Spoiler
oh my god the way the monster took Hutch and Don will stick with me forever. It shocked me. It was quick and easy 😭</spoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Fatphobia, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Vomit
maggie_t's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Disclaimer: I will be discussing surface details without going into the nitty-gritty of the book.
Having watched the movie before reading, I personally think the first half of the book holds up better than the script, but the movie handles the latter half more coherently. Doesn’t necessarily take away from its reading value, just changes how it reads. Instead of a story about something inherent within the character/s or the baggage they carry it becomes more so an arena of uncaring hostiles forcing the characters through the grinder.
The author’s snide disdain for anything feminine or fat stains his writing. It goes beyond one or two character’s personal world view as it permeates the entire book. The main character often remarks on how feminine, or femininely beautiful, other male characters are; sometimes as out of pocket observations, other times with a sneering judgment that’s hard to miss. The fat characters are determined by the story as sweaty, wheezing losers, unpleasant companions that unjustly lash out against the main character due to bitterness of his “freedom”. The wives of the fat guys are then framed almost as ‘befitting’ partners to their unpleasantness: a depressed mother of a sickly child and an unstable gold-digger. And the fat girl doesn’t crop up without the author reminding you how her body looks, which he justifies as relevant because the girl is usually naked.
To his credits, he writes paranoia and that gut-drop sensation of realizing something is hiding in plain sight very well. Chapters with the monster are compelling and tense, with memorable moments of you catching up to the character as he realizes he’s not as alone as he seems. The conflict near the end (before the climax confrontation) is pretty satisfying to read, unlike other books that put the characters through hell with no vindication.
Overall I would have rated this higher had the author not imparted so much misogyny and fatphobia into this, but it was an easy fast read with some high points.
Having watched the movie before reading, I personally think the first half of the book holds up better than the script, but the movie handles the latter half more coherently. Doesn’t necessarily take away from its reading value, just changes how it reads. Instead of a story about something inherent within the character/s or the baggage they carry it becomes more so an arena of uncaring hostiles forcing the characters through the grinder.
The author’s snide disdain for anything feminine or fat stains his writing. It goes beyond one or two character’s personal world view as it permeates the entire book. The main character often remarks on how feminine, or femininely beautiful, other male characters are; sometimes as out of pocket observations, other times with a sneering judgment that’s hard to miss. The fat characters are determined by the story as sweaty, wheezing losers, unpleasant companions that unjustly lash out against the main character due to bitterness of his “freedom”. The wives of the fat guys are then framed almost as ‘befitting’ partners to their unpleasantness: a depressed mother of a sickly child and an unstable gold-digger. And the fat girl doesn’t crop up without the author reminding you how her body looks, which he justifies as relevant because the girl is usually naked.
To his credits, he writes paranoia and that gut-drop sensation of realizing something is hiding in plain sight very well. Chapters with the monster are compelling and tense, with memorable moments of you catching up to the character as he realizes he’s not as alone as he seems. The conflict near the end (before the climax confrontation) is pretty satisfying to read, unlike other books that put the characters through hell with no vindication.
Overall I would have rated this higher had the author not imparted so much misogyny and fatphobia into this, but it was an easy fast read with some high points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Misogyny, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Addiction, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia
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