This is a mess

This book started strong enough. It started on PEI. So, for once I actually knew the landmarks and setting locations quite well. It went downhill from about there.

THE STORY:
Tonally and thematically, I don't think this book knows what it wants to be. It is technically written fine, but it tries to be a mixture of so many different pieces of media that it loses itself and becomes this homogenized mess of mediocrity. This is mystery, mixed with science fiction, mixed with drama, mixed with children of the corn, mixed with boring. It all felt so forced and awkward. That's why I don't want to say the book is well written. I don't think it is. But the book is at least competently written. The proper things are used in the proper places. They just aren't good.

The words and grammar are good, but nothing special. The writer uses a set up and pay off, but blink and you'll miss it. The characters, all of them, are unlikable. Things just happen, because. Everything that happens in the book is just too absurd to take seriously. Near the end of the book there is a literal super villain monologue about how the worms will inherit the earth. Like, nobody in the book is real, and the really don't feel real.

THE GORE:
There were two reason I bought this book. I really wanted something really intense and this book had both great reviews, and terrified comments. Most of the good comments were saying how gross the book was, how graphic. And the negative reviews were saying the same thing, but that it was too much. Well, I am pretty sure all the reviews were written by the children in this book, and have no life experience.

By the end of part one, I was still waiting for this horrific, scary, skin crawling book to start. All I had at that point was a group of semi dysfunctional boys, and the plot of Futurama where Fry eats the truck stop sandwich. And it was a slog to get that far. Near the end of part two, and the end of the book, I came to a realization. This book wasn't going to get good.

The book tries to go into excruciating detail about the things that happen in the book, but that is the only excruciating part. It drags scenes out for pages and pages, thinking it is making us squirm. One such instance is when they kill an animal for food, and the process of killing the animal is "so horrific", and "nothing like the movies". In the movies it is quick, but in real life there is blood and stuff, and things suffer if they aren't killed quickly, etc etc.

Well, yea. What did you think? I can understand the characters sort of not getting that, but the reader should live in reality and know "stabbing an animal and watching it slowly suffer to death" is a bad thing. So, it seems stupid for it to be a character moment, and we should already know so it comes off as just really terribly slowly paced pages upon pages of us finding out it was a bad thing. It would be like reading "and we watching my grandmother burn in her rocking chair for five minutes", while graphically explaining how her skin sloughs off. And on the final page of the scene they come to the realization that "Fire is indeed hot".

The other "graphic" stuff is mostly medical stuff (and explained as such, which doesn't make it overly gross or anything), or about worms. And yup, worms are gross, but that is about it. They aren't scary, and there really isn't any crazy body horror or slasher moments. Honestly, I think if you've ever lived on a farm (or owned a pet, or walked in the woods, or watched a medical documentary, or had kids, or...) then you've seen far worse than what most of this book has to offer.

THE KIDS:

I will keep this short. The kids are dreadful. But honestly, so is every character in the book. They start out as a group of young boys who are more or less friends. But they aren't friends, because these people know nothing about each other. These people aren't good people, but nobody in the group seems to know. Like one kid is comparable to Ted Bundy, with detailed scenes of him rubbing his dong because he is so hard from the violence, but nobody knows. Everyone is made of rubber. Being one character type in this scene, but another in another scene. "I am cowardly, I am brave now, but now abused, and now...". And when we get to witness the story from their point of view, it never feels right. It feels like an adult wrote some dialogue, then went and watched some kids be boys for a while (insults, gross out, stupid stuff). They then incorporated that into the story and said "there, characters".

But the characters all being unlikable, on top of being just completely off the walls, combined with the story that does the same (one story now, but now I'm this story...) makes this book feel bloated with bad things.

This book has worms.

1 person found this helpful

Kept me listening!

I really enjoyed this story. I found myself making extra time during my day, and before going to bed, so that I could listen to it more. I was prepared for the gross/gore factor from reading the reviews. It didn't bother me - I read and watch a lot of horror. But be aware that it certainly is very prevalent throughout the entire story, both to do with animals and humans.

The narrator was pretty good, although I found there wasn't a lot of variation between the different characters' voices. It didn't keep me from enjoying the book though.

1 person found this helpful

Seriously scary

This story had me hanging on right through to the very end. It is as scary as anything by Stephen King.
VERY well written and unfortunately a little too possible

If you're into detailed animal abuse

Didn't even finish listening... Lots of detailed animal abuse that I couldnt listen to.

I wanted to like it

From all the reviews I really thought I would like it. Just terrible. No real story, just gross scene after gross scene.

liked it

maybe the most gruesome book ive ever read. the kids are written so well and it makes their descent feel excruciating.

Horror at its best

This book hit me right where the snakes in my spine live and squirm. Very disturbing.

Bone Chilling

I’ve listened to a lot of horror audiobooks and this is the first one to actually make me squirm. Story was pretty good and the performance was as well.

Great horror novel

Some people thought it was to graphic, but I think it was just right for a horror novel. Keeps your attention, nothing to traumatizing.

One of the best horror books I have read

Very entertaining read/ listen it’s beautifully written. The end I didn’t see it going this way. The last character stayed alive was not the character I thought would. Just surprised me in a beautiful way and sad too