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zeloco's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt
cassie7e's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
3 stars (Rating might be higher if I was a regular horror/slasher fan)
I very much prefer psychological or gothic thrillers to the pure horror genre, and didn't quite know what I was getting into with this one. On top of that, this book is one massive example of the Trolley Problem, except that it's unclear if the consequences are real. The book does a great job of lending credibility to both possibilities and favoring neither. But gives hs absolutely no reason why the predicament exists in the first place or why the solutions would solve it. Felt very shallow and I didn't really care what happened to the characters besides Wen. The ending was not very satisfying to me and normally I don't mind open endings. Perhaps all this is why I didn't find all the violence and threats compelling. But also pleasant to read a story with normalized queer rep.
I strongly disliked Amy Landon's narration performance. Dialogue sounded stilted and over-voiced, over-serious, over-monotonous. Some of this was her struggling to do male voices, but some of this was a strange tone used for the whole text. This is not a book to listen to on audio for this reason.
I very much prefer psychological or gothic thrillers to the pure horror genre, and didn't quite know what I was getting into with this one. On top of that, this book is one massive example of the Trolley Problem, except that it's unclear if the consequences are real. The book does a great job of lending credibility to both possibilities and favoring neither. But gives hs absolutely no reason why the predicament exists in the first place or why the solutions would solve it. Felt very shallow and I didn't really care what happened to the characters besides Wen. The ending was not very satisfying to me and normally I don't mind open endings. Perhaps all this is why I didn't find all the violence and threats compelling. But also pleasant to read a story with normalized queer rep.
I strongly disliked Amy Landon's narration performance. Dialogue sounded stilted and over-voiced, over-serious, over-monotonous. Some of this was her struggling to do male voices, but some of this was a strange tone used for the whole text. This is not a book to listen to on audio for this reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Torture and Pandemic/Epidemic
_morgreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
bethboo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Don't look at my Content Warnings because they have major spoilers.
I feel like I probably should have had a better grip on what this book was about before I began reading it. That's a mistake I seem to make pretty often. I went into this book expecting a horror book, based on the title and the original cover (which is an abstract red, classic scary book look). There were definitely horror elements based on the premise alone.
A lively family visits a cabin in the middle of nowhere for a getaway, but four people armed with twisted tools force their way into their temporary abode and give them an ultimatum: Choose one of your family to sacrifice to stop the impending apocalypse or the world will end.
It was creepy and violent and contradictory, which was fascinating. My main desire the entire read was whether or not this "apocalypse" was actually real in the world of this book. I wanted to know the answer so badly, I thought I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
But, in warning, this book is tragic. Nothing good happens to this family, which should be a given, but I was caught off guard by how many tears I shed for this book.
I really liked how everyone kept on repeating how they were just an everyday person but then the visions and the sameness. I knew from the second Andrew came back into the cabin with the gun that something bad was going to happen to Wen. I was fucking devastated. I cried when it happened and then Leonard's POV was so good with his confusion and regret. Eric losing it and Andrew trying to keep it together. Oh gods it hurt.
The ending? Oh fuck the ending. I was SOBBING. I was listening to the book while doing my makeup and I had to redo my eyes. How they spoke to each other and held each other and loved each other despite everything, because of everything. Fuck, I'm tearing up right now. Shit, this book got me good.
I feel like I probably should have had a better grip on what this book was about before I began reading it. That's a mistake I seem to make pretty often. I went into this book expecting a horror book, based on the title and the original cover (which is an abstract red, classic scary book look). There were definitely horror elements based on the premise alone.
A lively family visits a cabin in the middle of nowhere for a getaway, but four people armed with twisted tools force their way into their temporary abode and give them an ultimatum: Choose one of your family to sacrifice to stop the impending apocalypse or the world will end.
It was creepy and violent and contradictory, which was fascinating. My main desire the entire read was whether or not this "apocalypse" was actually real in the world of this book. I wanted to know the answer so badly, I thought I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
But, in warning, this book is tragic. Nothing good happens to this family, which should be a given, but I was caught off guard by how many tears I shed for this book.
The ending? Oh fuck the ending. I was SOBBING. I was listening to the book while doing my makeup and I had to redo my eyes. How they spoke to each other and held each other and loved each other despite everything, because of everything. Fuck, I'm tearing up right now. Shit, this book got me good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
adelinebal4's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
kkalicky94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
What would you do if the fate of the world rested on your shoulders?
Wen's fathers take her to a cabin for a trip out of the city, where she can catch all the grasshoppers she wants and swim in the lake. But when a man approaches her one afternoon and says he and his friends need to speak to her and her fathers about something very important, what was supposed to be a fun vacation turns into tragedy quickly.
I picked this audio up because I ended up watching the movie adaption earlier this month and wondered how it differed from the actual novel. A lot of the story elements are the same, Wen is adopted by a gay couple and much of their personalities remain the same as the events play out with Leonard, Sabrina, Adrienne, and Redmond - until about the 70% mark. I was hanging onto a four to five star for this audio until that point where I realized, for once in my life, I think M. Night Shyamalan actually took this story and made it better.
You can disagree with me about the movie being better, but the entire premise of The Cabin At the End of The World is that the family of three is forced to make a decision that will impact the lives of the world at large. Through a series of frantic missteps, the story begins to devolve around the 70% mark and while it was realistic, I feel like the author wrote himself into a corner... when in reality he could have taken the route the movie did and had a much more satisfying ending. I left the book wondering why I read it. I finished the movie feeling hopeful. Those are two very different impacts left from the same base story and I can't help but think the movie handled the delicate nature of the plot far better than it's source material.
I really loved Wen in the book. I loved how the narration rack-focused back and forth between characters in the same moment to give insight to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, while still remaining in third person perspective. My only issue was I really disliked the narrator, I don't think she sold the story to me as well as it could have been, and I actually would have enjoyed the narrator be younger, or completely detached. I disliked the narration so much I ended up listening on 2.5 speed just to get through it.
This was a hard audiobook to rate - loved the concept, story, and the way the elements played out, but I also really disliked the final quarter of the book and how Tremblay chose to end it. Go watch the movie, it's actually a better experience and the actors chosen absolutely body the roles and breathe more life into them than what was on page.
Content warnings: death (multiple on page), grief (heavily discussed), homophobia (both past and present), gore (some of the descriptions turned even my iron stomach tbh)
Wen's fathers take her to a cabin for a trip out of the city, where she can catch all the grasshoppers she wants and swim in the lake. But when a man approaches her one afternoon and says he and his friends need to speak to her and her fathers about something very important, what was supposed to be a fun vacation turns into tragedy quickly.
I picked this audio up because I ended up watching the movie adaption earlier this month and wondered how it differed from the actual novel. A lot of the story elements are the same, Wen is adopted by a gay couple and much of their personalities remain the same as the events play out with Leonard, Sabrina, Adrienne, and Redmond - until about the 70% mark. I was hanging onto a four to five star for this audio until that point where I realized, for once in my life, I think M. Night Shyamalan actually took this story and made it better.
You can disagree with me about the movie being better, but the entire premise of The Cabin At the End of The World is that the family of three is forced to make a decision that will impact the lives of the world at large. Through a series of frantic missteps, the story begins to devolve around the 70% mark and while it was realistic, I feel like the author wrote himself into a corner... when in reality he could have taken the route the movie did and had a much more satisfying ending. I left the book wondering why I read it. I finished the movie feeling hopeful. Those are two very different impacts left from the same base story and I can't help but think the movie handled the delicate nature of the plot far better than it's source material.
I really loved Wen in the book. I loved how the narration rack-focused back and forth between characters in the same moment to give insight to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, while still remaining in third person perspective. My only issue was I really disliked the narrator, I don't think she sold the story to me as well as it could have been, and I actually would have enjoyed the narrator be younger, or completely detached. I disliked the narration so much I ended up listening on 2.5 speed just to get through it.
This was a hard audiobook to rate - loved the concept, story, and the way the elements played out, but I also really disliked the final quarter of the book and how Tremblay chose to end it. Go watch the movie, it's actually a better experience and the actors chosen absolutely body the roles and breathe more life into them than what was on page.
Content warnings: death (multiple on page), grief (heavily discussed), homophobia (both past and present), gore (some of the descriptions turned even my iron stomach tbh)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Homophobia and Grief
physicalsecrets's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lakinlindsey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Forgot to log this book because I read it right before the movie came out. Great concept, better than the movie overall with how it fleshed everyone out but lasted for a bit too long after one particularly horrific death (if you know you know). Preferred the ending of the movie from a feel good standpoint while the book’s far more heavy. However, I like the book for what it says about religion and that if a God does exist and they’re hateful, wrathful, and require violence then maybe that’s not a world worth saving. Sabrina’s character and Andrew (obviously) are very vital to this viewpoint. It’s also fairly ambiguous while the movie isn’t. The book ending is what I’d like to think I’d do but personally I know I’d do what Eric did in the movie, not because I believe but because I wouldn’t want to carry any guilt on my shoulders in case I was wrong. Better than the movie and worth reading if you love Cabin in The Woods.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Child death
itsalina's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail