Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Cabin at the End of the World

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.

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_morgreads's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

1.25

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spaceykate's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

honestly i fucking hated this book. nonsensical killing, bizarre author notes that make me think too many people were given participation awards as young children who should've been told to stop being so psychopathic instead (

Spoiler

who the fuck says they wanted to make sure when they shot a child in the face they didn't want to make it an emotional highkey moment? a legit psychopath. sick in the head.

), and pages and pages of background / environmental descriptors that made me flash back to skipping like 40 pages of frankenstein because it's was just all. descriptions. of. landscape. i don't need to know about the wood of the floor. i don't need to know about the blanket they brought from home, especially since it CLEARLY doesn't hold significance to the characters in its use. even the whole

Spoiler

four horsemen shirt colors and relatedish plagues

felt cheaply done, like paint on a pig. the only thing i liked in the entire thing was a fucking side note the author made:

Spoiler

the yellow lamp running bit

. made me sick to read it, because it really channeled this vibe that the author has no value of human life and that's yeah pretty sickening. but great read if you like that sort of thing.

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madelaine__grace's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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owlribbon's review

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dark medium-paced

3.0

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alkaiadyne's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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grrr8_catsby's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

Last month, I sat down in the movie theater to watch “Knock At The Cabin”, knowing nothing about it, nor what it was about. It was not until the credits rolled that I realized, hey, I think I have that book sitting on my bookshelf.

“Knock At The Cabin” bares a different name than A Cabin At The End Of The World, which feels appropriate, because the book and the movie vary greatly. To its credit, the first half of the movie is a faithful adaption, but ultimately, Hollywood gets creative.

Tone and tempo are the biggest detractors for A Cabin At The End Of The World. Gruesome passages are descriptive and visceral, while palpable tension hangs in the air. These moments repeatedly fail to blend with the rest of the story, which at times spiral to an excruciating crawl. While the movie does a great job of stoking the flames of disbelief, the book far excels. However, this is both a blessing and a curse, for the book ends with the sin of an ambiguous ending. I want answers, dammit. If I flip a coin, I want to hear “heads” or “tails”, not about the journey of the coin through the air.

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