Ariel

I surprisingly loved this book. I'll tell you why surprisingly.

I surprisingly loved this book because at around the 120ish page mark, I was already thinking of giving it a 3 star. It was interesting, but didn't really capture my attention. I was especially thinking of giving this book a 2 star when the killings started happening because I found things to be easily predictable.

BUT THEN

I read on and well, I was wrong. I was mistaken and glad I was. Yes, I did predict many of the things, but the things that I did not predict made up for what I did and made it worth while. Plus, the things I was right about and guessed correctly, weren't that big in the grand scheme of things. Even though I predicted some parts, I still found myself enjoying the story.

I was truly invested in this story. I felt the anxiety, the fear, the adrenaline rush. When characters died, I didn't just gloss over their death, I really felt for them. While reading, in my mind I felt like I was watching Scream or any other slasher film. That's how I envisioned it and it was great.

This book is one of the few that truly grossed me out. The murder I was obviously expecting and fine with (weird thing to say) but the incest, rape, abuse, cannibalism, necrophilia, and overall gruesomeness was so much more than I was expecting. I had to stop reading and give myself a little break at times since I was so disgusted.

That isn't why I gave it three stars tough. I gave it three stars because I found the majority of the story pretty boring. The only thing fascinating and intriguing is the family dynamics. I also found it interesting that I didn't know whether to support Michael or be against him, like him or hate him, or feel any sympathy for him. The rest I found a little boring and predictable at times. It was still entertaining and unlike anything I've read leading up to it, but nothing spectacular happened in my opinion.

The main issue with me, personally, was the writing. I'm not saying it's bad at all, but it was written during the 1950s and obviously, we have changed the way we write. It was a little difficult to understand at times since of course, the language and writing at the time is different than now. Other than that, it was still enjoyable and entertaining.

Honestly, if this book wasn't so short, I probably would have stopped reading, but since it is only 182 pages I decided it's no bother. I wasn't scared, but I was creeped out at times. It's not terrifying in my opinion, but it is very eerie. The ending left me shocked and everything kind of started to make sense to me, which made the book even better because my fear was not being able to understand what was going on.

This book might not scare you, but it definitely will have you creeped out, second guessing, and overthinking things which is probably just as bad. It plays with your mind and that's where the horror begins.

This book was great in my opinion! From the very first sentence I was hooked and I could not put it down. I mean I read it in one day so that speaks for it self.
I equate reading this book to watching a fast paced, action packed thriller movie.

Part one was excellent. Truly amazing, no complaints. Part two in my opinion was still great but a little obvious and predictable in a few ways. Still, it was pretty damn great and overall I was pleased with how the story ended. I had no idea where this story was going to go or how it was going to end, but, personally, I am very pleased.

The one word I'd use to explain how I felt through the majority of the books is confusion.


While I did finish it in 2 days, that's because I wanted to finally find the answers. The reasons, the motivations, the causes. I never got that.

I guess the main reason I'm disappointed is because I thought the story was going to go for this huge turn and I was finally going to receive all the answers but I didn't. You can't really understand the why, if the characters themselves don't understand the why. That itself may be the whole point, but still, this just wasn't for me. I feel bad giving it a 2 star just because I may not have understood it as much, but now I know I don't like stories being so open ended. If you want concrete answers in your books, this may not be the book for you.