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
owenglasgow's review against another edition
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Sexism
jellybean_gene's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75
Disclaimer: I had already seen the movie version of this and the story is different enough that nothing was spoiled.
Wow. This book was fantastic. It was terrifying and claustrophobic, it tap-danced on the fence between "natural or supernatural?".
That and it dove into and humanized the main characters so much that you really care for them. Enough so that it ratchets up the tension all the moreso when they continue to get shit on by the universe.
Great ending as well. Beautifully done horror. Fantastic.
Wow. This book was fantastic. It was terrifying and claustrophobic, it tap-danced on the fence between "natural or supernatural?".
That and it dove into and humanized the main characters so much that you really care for them. Enough so that it ratchets up the tension all the moreso when they continue to get shit on by the universe.
Great ending as well. Beautifully done horror. Fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
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
asaintsheaint's review against another edition
adventurous
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
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, and Violence
chloeknight's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
1.0
This book should have ended after the first half; the second half was stilted and repetitive in nature.
Honestly, save yourself the pain and just watch the film which is far superior in my opinion.
Honestly, save yourself the pain and just watch the film which is far superior in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Minor: Animal death
mgsardina's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
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