The Cabin at the End of the World
Ratings231
Average rating3.4
I stopped at 21%-I have been reading some stinkers lately. I basically can't stand how the action is happening in the present and then they do these flashbacks to the characters that take 3 pages to explain and they add nothing to the story. I want to know WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! They are breaking in, I don't care about your time in the orphanage years ago.
DNF - pg. 142
Three stars for what I did read
This book started off just so strongly. The writing completely sucking me in and making me understand bits and pieces of Wen, Andrew, and Eric. The way that Leonard was interacting with Wen at the beginning, and her internal thoughts with that were just so good. But then it is revealed why they are there and it felt like the wind was taken out of the sails, even with the scene with Redmond. Without spoiling anything, maybe that's just my personal preference but their reasoning for them being there just took me out of it completely. I'll give it another chance sometime down the road but just not right now.
I will give a 3.5 star, not a full 4...as the last read of this year, the book feels like riding a roller-coaster, sometimes it was great sometimes it was too boring. And they left the ending to us, that will be in my head for a long time..
The Cabin at the End of the World is an intense read that kept me hooked till the end. I had no idea what would happen next, which made it impossible to put down.
And the ending...wow. It was frustrating at first—I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But looking back, I realize it actually adds to the creepy, unsettling feel of the whole story. It's one of those endings that some people will probably hate, while others might find it fits perfectly with the story's dark vibe.
This book is so frustrating because it is very captivatingly written, giving you insight into all these characters. It sets up this incredibly thought provoking scenario and manages to toe the line between being an incredibly tough read, but not in a way that makes you want to put it down. You want to follow these characters, move through this world, figure these problems out. And then it just, stops. Not even a cliffhanger, not a mysterious ending, it feels like the author just forgot he was writing a book halfway through the last sentence and left it. Incredibly disappointing and makes it hard to want to recommend the book to anyone ever.
I was utterly transfixed by this book. I'd put it off for so long because “house invasion thriller” isn't my favourite subgenre but Cabin has a twist to it that makes the story so fascinating, the characters are incredible, the way it's written is fantastic... and the way he plays with ambiguity, holy hell. Chef's kiss. I still don't know what happened and I'm GLAD about it!! There were a few lines I highlighted just because they had me going, “Wow... what a line.” Sheesh. Well now I need to obtain more Tremblay books, I guess. I've certainly got Horror Movie, his 2024 release, on preorder already.
I can't remember the last time I finished a book in a single sitting — I knew this wasn't going to end on a happy note, but I literally could not put it down.
I haven't even seen the film adaptation yet but already Dave Bautista seems perfectly cast as Leonard.
It was SO GOOD, it was SO good omfg
I am so happy I kicked off this year with this book
I really thought I knew what was going to happen with this book as soon as I finished the first chapter (I liked the premise regardless so I wasn't mad about it) and THEN it absolutely punched me in the neck like 5 times
Honestly I read the bulk of it in 2 days and I really genuinely loved this AND the author includes chapter notes at the end when you're done ?????? And I was like OH WORMMMMM oh my gosh you have to read it however if you don't like open ended books/unanswered questions this might not be super pleasant for you
i am left conflicted... i actually love endings like the one here But i absolutely feel like this is a story that relies on decisive storytelling and needed the hand to be pushed one way or the other to be anything more than mid. took me like three weeks to read too
Though I'm not a fan of ambiguous endings, I enjoyed every part of this book. I read it fast, wanting to know what happened next, and enjoyed looking up and discussion symbolism and themes in the book. Compelling characters, riveting for as “novel in a bottle.” Very good.
LOOOOOOVED this.
The biggest mindfuck about this was definitely the characters.
they aren't villains like you would typically expect of a home invasion. They were genuinely nice people who've been brainwashed into doing these things. I found that so interesting.
And this one is definitely not for people who don't like opne ended books but i absolutely loved coming up with theories for what i thought happens in the book.
The M Night Shyamalan movie is great in my opinion for those who've read the book, because then you can visualise the things here so much better. Apart from majorly changing the ending, I'd say the movie is a great adaptation.
An all time favourite, for sure.
Sometimes 3 star books can be really disappointing and other times they are satisfying quick reads, this book is the latter. It lacks the jaw dropping end that would elevate it to another level but the Twilight Zone-esque mystery felt unique and intriguing, resulting in an enjoyable read.
Very well written, easy to visualize and extrememly cinematic. Quick paced and solid character development. The is-it-true or is-it-not-true worked just about all the way through the book and it definitely did not pull its punches. Long chapters combined with the good flow of the book makes it a quick read.
On one hand, I'm unsatisfied with the book as a whole, but on the other hand, I couldn't put it down, and it made me feel a lot of things, and I feel like I won't be able to stop thinking about it for a while!
A decent read, but I saw m night shyamalans film adaption a few months ago and definitely prefer it - feels more sure in what it has to say and how it conveys that (and the changes it makes are way for the better). I will say that the idea of the figure in the light, which was in the version of the movie I saw as well but apparently not in the final cut will stick with me for a while.
Wow. This is probably the wildest thing I have ever read. I couldn't stop reading it. I cannot stop thinking about it. This blew my little socks off!
I'm actually really surprised to see so many bad reviews for this book. I was so invested and enthralled the whole way through and really liked the ambiguity and pacing. I do think it wasn't the right narrator for this audiobook, but not enough to be distracting, and I even listend to it on a slower speed than I do typically. I even saw some people say it would be better as a movie when I was thinking the whole way through, “wow this is a great book, but idk how they're gonna make it work as a movie.” If only because so much of this book is what people are thinking.
One thing I'll say for sure is that this would be such a fascinating book for discussion to see what parts any one person believes to be true and what their take on it is.
It's probably worth noting that this is the first Paul Tremblay book I've ever read and will definitely be diving into the rest of his work.
I gotta say I was and remain devastated about Wen's death. There is so much time up to that point spent inside of her thoughts and young life that while I can appreciate it for going there I'm also really sad that it did. It's such maximum cruelty. I also can't help but wonder why a gay couple? Why put them specifically though that, is there commentary there that isn't clicking or was it just to add that level of uncertainty about it being a revenge situation motivated by targeted hate? is that the whole point???
This book starts off well and then goes down in flames pretty quickly. It's like that car accident you can't turn away from. The ending is one of the worst I have ever seen. I've read in interviews with the author that he likes ambiguity, but this is ridiculous. There is no pay off for the reader who has invested their time in this story.