Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Ruins by Scott Smith

35 reviews

eternalbutt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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rorunyon96's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

3.75


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thebearnest's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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yourstrulyheadie's review

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sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0


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jstenman's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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entropyseeker's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I loved that there were no chapters in the book, because it really drove home the unending horror they were facing. The POV shifts were interesting and the suspense had me bowl through this. All the characters were so heavily unlikeable, which often made it hard to read, but
it made it easier to watch them die

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mrpetej's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


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tabookish's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0


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frances_frances's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Phew! This book is bleak as hell, but overall, I really enjoyed it. It's gory and deeply unsettling. The physical and psychological anguish experienced by each character is relentless. The pacing is slow and meticulous but somehow manages to be consistently engrossing throughout. The "monster" in this book is refreshing in its originality. I found it much more disturbing than an actual monster, ghost, etc. And the constant shift in perspective was expertly pulled off. 

There were a few things that bothered me about this book. The biggest problem I have is when Jeff accidentally sees Stacy's breast and then contemplates  the differences and similarities between Amy and Stacy's nipples. I really hate when male authors include that kind of shit. The women characters are sexualized for no reason and in ways that the men never would be. Amy and Stacy are written as Madonna/whore stereotypes. I guess there's some "commentary" about this when Eric describes how Hollywood would write their story, but still, the only two women in the book are comparatively two dimensional and clearly written from a male perspective. The shallowness of the women and the references to their bodies really made this book go from 5 to 4 stars.
I thought the whole pretext for the group to be in the jungle in the first place was weak and could've been fleshed out more. 
I feel uncertain about how the Mayan community was portrayed. They are nameless, voiceless, and for our purposes basically interchangeable. And like the environment itself, the Mayan people are a lethal threat to our (white) main characters, with unknown motives. On one hand, the way the Mayans were presented felt realistic to how the main characters would view them. At the same time, it's hard to say where the characters end and the author begins. 

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ssummar's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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