Excellent book,very good characters.

I really enjoyed this audio book.Its certainly light

years better than the film adaptation too ,so if you've seen the film first you may be surprised how much better the book is.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Surprised that listeners found this scary...

I purchased this book on the strength of the reviews but after finishing it (today), I'm, genuinely surprised that people found it scary. I love books with suspense and chills, rather than gore, but Adam Nevill seems to be channelling over used topics (lost in the woods), clichéd characters and both repetitive descriptive words (if I heard "verdure" one more time, I'd have screamed in pain, not horror!) and story progression.

I wanted to like it, honestly, I tried... going in with an open mind and a friendly disposition to the narrative style and placement of the story (a dense Northern forest) but it just fell flat; so much so that when the narrator said "Part 2", I sighed in agony of only reaching a mid-point. If the book achieved anything, it did, although unintended, relay the feeling of monotony and desperation that the characters felt when lost in the woods... 'when will this journey end!' I too wanted it to be over and only continued on because I'm a completist and kept hoping it would get a little better.

I won't say much more about the story itself because I'd like to avoid spoiling it for others who decide they want to read it but I'd be surprised if anyone who enjoys this genre finds anything new or interesting in The Ritual. Predictable, repetitive and feeling like 'horror-by-numbers', it is hard to recommend and I think most people would struggle to find it enthralling and scary, even were they to be reading it in a tent, in the middle of a forest, at night.

Lastly, David Thorpe's narration was good - he does his best with the source material and I only have one, very minor, criticism. I found the sing-song nature with which he says the chapter and number (think happy voice!) at odds with the tone he was trying to set with his narration (which is pretty obvious given the genre). In my opinion, it broke any tension that there was building up and brought you right back to where you were, rather than getting swept away with the story. Given that I already struggled to find the narrative engaging, this only added to the lack of engagement.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

great listen

Would you listen to The Ritual again? Why?

yeah definitely, the narrator really made this book for me, great job!

What other book might you compare The Ritual to, and why?

I've not read a book like this one, but the closest thing i can compare it to is the Blair witch project

Which scene did you most enjoy?

still in the process of listening to it. The scene where Luke and Dom are arguing in the tent, gave a little giggle.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

fantastic

I was gripped from start to finish. the story and the narrator worked so well together

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A great audiobook, with one issue...

I really enjoyed this book, but be warned, there is a twist in the tale and I feel like people will be either side of the fence with it. For me it worked well and was an interesting way to take the story, but it's a big departure from the first half of the story.

The narration is perfect apart from two things. One, a minor gripe but a pronunciation mistake occurs a few times. The second issue - the chapter announcements! Way to throw off the atmosphere, a hugely tense scene occurs followed by a super enthusiastic and cheerful "CHAPTER 6". This book has a lot of tense set pieces and the chapter announcements killed it for me, made it pretty comical at times.

Bearing in mind those points, I thought this was a great marriage of a good novel and a great read.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Re-lighted a fire in me for story writing.

If you haven't read this book do it now, espully because there is a high change u have already had the ending spoiled because of the movie but if u haven't like me it's amazing and watching the movie after the book is great, really shows u how good the book is at capturing the atmosphere and situation they are in. After this book I can stop writing and I love it. Way better than movie but the movie is still great but I would advice to get this book read. Amazing.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Started off well

Would you try another book written by Adam Nevill or narrated by David Thorpe?

The narration was good, the accents were smooth enough that they didn't distract from the story so would certainly listen to David again. As for Adam Nevill, I would have to give it a few years for him to mature I think.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Initially when they first come across the house I felt the scene was genuinely atmospheric and creepy.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The book starts off well, the characters are reasonably well defined and the scene descriptions are good. However, the story completely changes half way through and you are left with a cross between monsters and sociopaths and frankly after all the trouble the sociopaths cause I was devasted when their fates were quick! It was almost like Neville started the book and then thought that he couldnt do a monster story justice and would take a page out of Lionel Striver's "We need to talk about Kevin". Was quite disappointed with this really.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Great first half. Got tiring durin the second.

I loved the first half. I got through it pretty quickly. But the second half seemed to drag on for me, which spoiled it overall.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Brilliant audiobook!

Right... this was such a hard book to rate for me. a book has to be truly exceptional to earn a 5 stars for me. I don't give them out often. so close this book was to a 4, but one factor swung it for me.

How quickly I went through it.

5 days, for a book of this size is quite a feet for me, the narration was probably what ultimately swung it to a 5 for me. the first half of the book is incredible. Tense, suspenseful and thrilling as the four friends go up against nature and the monster hunting them down. The second half changes tone quite a bit, not in a bad way but no where near as tense. it's a different kind of tension, more akin to Stephen King's Misery (those who have read this will understand the reference). The end returns to the thrills of the first half and ends really strongly. So, this stood between 4-5 stars for me. The second half, not being as strong as the first almost dragged it to a 4, but consider the brilliant narration and the speed in which I found myself wanting to read on and find out what happened next made the decision to give it a 5 a fair one. You'll not be dissaoointed.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Amazing!

Gripping story, amazing narration and just a fantastic and chilling experience, I couldn’t stop listening but am now terrified to go into the woods haha.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!