Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Ruins by Scott Smith

131 reviews

mshaniak's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

3.0

Decent book. I liked it. A bit dragged out in places, but I loved the body horror. My favourite scenes were the ones with Eric
and the vines growing inside him. The descriptions made me squirm  and gag 😅 
I wish the was more about the curse of this place and more exploration of the mine shaft. 
Overall and ok book. If it wasn’t for the body horror it’d be a 2 star. Maybe because right from the start you know they’re doomed and that really, there’s only one way this can possibly end. You just read to find out in what order they’ll go. 
What I did like is the exploration of the human character in extreme conditions: what are we willing and not willing to do to survive, how far a person can be pushed etc… 
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jonduff68's review

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adventurous dark medium-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

2.75

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lexi_defran's review

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dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

He does not write women well. He did not write the Mayans respectfully. But he did write scary stuff and that was well done 
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nusta's review

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

3.75

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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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anarcho_cutie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Funny story with this one: I initially checked out the abridged audio version accidentally. When I figured that out, I returned it and checked out the full version…

I should have stuck with the abridged. The story dragged on, the characters were all unlikable and shallow, and it fell all the way apart toward the end. All in all, pretty boring. TBH, the only reasons I didn’t DNF this one was because I was reading it for a reading challenge and the sunk cost fallacy. 
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freyster's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is an easy read and a page-turner. 
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hustlingburrito's review against another edition

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

2.0

Great premise but it was so boring. I get that they were stuck and the author is trying get the reader into the same fever-dream mindset but it was just way too slow. Didn’t pick up until way later and even then I was like “this was what you were leading up to????” 

The characters are vile but honestly, it was the only thing that got a reaction out of me. It’s actually refreshing to not root for them and see what the lore was for this supernatural force that has them trapped. Too bad there was barely a backstory to it. So there was no pay off. 

I thought I would like this book. It was promising and I actually recommended it to my brother towards the beginning and then I took it back LOL. 
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briesbooks44's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • 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

3.5

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jhazmynn's review

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

4.5

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