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A review by magnetgrrl
The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. Not without its flaws, but fantastic. The first 60% of the book is gold. The atmosphere - the descriptions of the woods, and just everything - was perfectly creepy and horrific. Pacing is great. The book grabs you from the very first sentence, first paragraph. Characters are a little thin, but I didn't even care.
Then, things take a dip for a while but it ends up alright. Totally worth a read at this time of year.
To discuss some specifics - SPOILERS AHEAD -
I thought the descriptions of the thing in the woods were great. I thought some of the descriptions of the ruins they found, and the stuff in the house, and the church massacre site were... confusing. Or at least, the characters' descriptions and reactions, as well as theories and conclusions about what happened there or what they thought was going on, were very confusing. What exactly did they see? What does it mean? Grr. Mildly frustrating in that I wish that were a bit clearer, so I could get my creeps ramped up, rather than just more wandering around. But whatever, I went along for the ride. Once Luke is "rescued" the book takes a HUGE dip for me. I don't think the entire sequence with the metal kids was that great - mostly it went on too long. The main guy Loki seems to keep repeating, over and over, his theories about being "so evil" and saying Luke just doesn't "get it". Sure, OK. But I do, and I don't want to read him explaining them over and over. If Luke doesn't get it, or does but doesn't believe him, or whatever - just SAY that. He could just tell the guy "that's great, but I think you're full of crap and that thing in the woods is going to eat us all" and save the readers lots of time. That part of the story just lost all momentum for me. It's like listening to two people argue who aren't understanding each other and watching them both just get louder and louder saying the same things over and over again thinking that will make it clearer somehow. Watching Luke's internal struggles are a bit unbelievable, too. If he's as injured as described, he should be dead, or near death and barely mobile, not picking fights with teenagers. And his existential back and forth - which gets old, fast - of "I'm at rock bottom, death come to me. No, wait, screw you! No, no, this is it, it's all over. I deserve this probably. But you guys suck - I want to see my dog again!" It just doesn't - it doesn't take us far enough to where the book ends, with Luke just staying there in the woods. Even that doesn't make too much sense, after he kills the... whatever that thing is. (I'm OK with that not really being explained, I guess.) What is there left to stay for? I wish the ending were scarier or more powerful in some way. Instead of killing it, I almost wish Luke would start worshiping the things in the woods - joining the old lady, or becoming the new thing that preys on anyone unfortunate enough to wander, or that he would set up shop living in one of the ancient huts, or something.... I kind of wanted to crazy evil forest primeval to win - to drive Luke to madness enough to stay with them, forever. Bring out his dark side and let it go. Instead it felt more like he was just giving up, maybe to starve out there, who knows. It feels anti-climactic or a little undone actually.
But, overall, I really enjoyed this - fantastic book. I saw film rights were optioned and I will totally go see this movie when it comes out.
Then, things take a dip for a while but it ends up alright. Totally worth a read at this time of year.
To discuss some specifics - SPOILERS AHEAD -
I thought the descriptions of the thing in the woods were great. I thought some of the descriptions of the ruins they found, and the stuff in the house, and the church massacre site were... confusing. Or at least, the characters' descriptions and reactions, as well as theories and conclusions about what happened there or what they thought was going on, were very confusing. What exactly did they see? What does it mean? Grr. Mildly frustrating in that I wish that were a bit clearer, so I could get my creeps ramped up, rather than just more wandering around. But whatever, I went along for the ride. Once Luke is "rescued" the book takes a HUGE dip for me. I don't think the entire sequence with the metal kids was that great - mostly it went on too long. The main guy Loki seems to keep repeating, over and over, his theories about being "so evil" and saying Luke just doesn't "get it". Sure, OK. But I do, and I don't want to read him explaining them over and over. If Luke doesn't get it, or does but doesn't believe him, or whatever - just SAY that. He could just tell the guy "that's great, but I think you're full of crap and that thing in the woods is going to eat us all" and save the readers lots of time. That part of the story just lost all momentum for me. It's like listening to two people argue who aren't understanding each other and watching them both just get louder and louder saying the same things over and over again thinking that will make it clearer somehow. Watching Luke's internal struggles are a bit unbelievable, too. If he's as injured as described, he should be dead, or near death and barely mobile, not picking fights with teenagers. And his existential back and forth - which gets old, fast - of "I'm at rock bottom, death come to me. No, wait, screw you! No, no, this is it, it's all over. I deserve this probably. But you guys suck - I want to see my dog again!" It just doesn't - it doesn't take us far enough to where the book ends, with Luke just staying there in the woods. Even that doesn't make too much sense, after he kills the... whatever that thing is. (I'm OK with that not really being explained, I guess.) What is there left to stay for? I wish the ending were scarier or more powerful in some way. Instead of killing it, I almost wish Luke would start worshiping the things in the woods - joining the old lady, or becoming the new thing that preys on anyone unfortunate enough to wander, or that he would set up shop living in one of the ancient huts, or something.... I kind of wanted to crazy evil forest primeval to win - to drive Luke to madness enough to stay with them, forever. Bring out his dark side and let it go. Instead it felt more like he was just giving up, maybe to starve out there, who knows. It feels anti-climactic or a little undone actually.
But, overall, I really enjoyed this - fantastic book. I saw film rights were optioned and I will totally go see this movie when it comes out.