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sunduck's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
archaicrobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Four college bros meet up again years later for a holiday weekend hiking in Sweden. The four all have unresolved tensions, which linger over the holiday, and worsen the trip. In hopes of ending it early, they decide to take an uncharted path through the forest. But what once seemed like a good idea quickly darkens as the four realize the forest is off in some way, and much bigger than anticipated. And there’s something following them …..
I love creature features, especially when the creature is based on regional lore. The Ritual has an excellent mix of survival horror and supernatural horror woven into myth and lore native to Norway and Sweden. The descriptions of the unknown creature that lurks in these woods alongside the slowly crumbling friendship of these men is truly horrifying.
Survival horror and Supernatural horror are my favorite genres, so to see the two combined so well was perfect.
If you enjoy dark fantasy, supernatural horror, or survival horror I would recommend The Ritual for its excellent storytelling.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Dysphoria, Murder, Death, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, and Violence
chessakat's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
The second half just epically needed an editor - I think I just got EXTREMELY fatigued by the high state of tension. Like, you can only feel despair and hopelessness for so long before my brain is just like, please, for the love of dog, make something plot-y happen again. It just dragged so so much. I think I just strongly preferred the supernatural scary to the humans. They were so banal.
By the time the end came I was so ready for it to be over that finally seeing the monster was just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
Curious to see the movie adaptation, as I heard it diverges from the book quite a bit.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, and Gore
hagss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Body shaming
raychelbennet's review against another edition
- 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
Here's what Adam Nevill told me is the worst horror in the world: being fat. Being fat is the most monstrous thing about humanity. We're going to overlook the cool, tree-like monster thing and instead talk about the fat, flubby, and/or chubby bodies of people in nearly every single sentence. It's exhausting. It's fatphobic. It ruins the whole book IMO
The *real* cincher for me though was when--for absolutely no reason other than to be a creep--Neville decided to describe a teen girl as having a doughy, yogurty-smelling c*nt. I'm going to go vomit somewhere to get that sentence out of my head.
This is another book I wish I hadn't read. Usually I can find some redeeming qualities, but the bad far outweighs the good.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Torture, Confinement, Violence, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, and Gore
Moderate: Violence and Animal death
danimacuk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Death, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Confinement
coleyreads's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Moderate: Death, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
bugsoup's review against another edition
- 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
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
ggcd1981's review against another edition
- 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
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
graceprechtel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia