Jan 3 - Jan 4, 2012
Wake Wood
K. A. John
Horror
Published 2011
295 pages
7/10
In the tiny Irish village of Wake Wood, the residents welcome newcomers only if they're a certain type of people, as they live in a very... special place. Patrick and Louise have just lost their daughter in a horrific accident, and are living shattered shells of their former lives, barely hanging on to any semblance of their former selves. And Wake Wood is welcoming them with open arms.
This book is what would happen if Pet Sematary and Village of the Damned got together for a cheap one night stand and had a baby made of paper and ink. Literally. Only the names seem to be different. I mean, I don't think I can really complain; when I read the synopsis on the back of the book, I thought, "This sounds just like Pet Sematary! I LOVED that shit!" and then whisked it up to the insane Boxing Day line-up at Chapters, where I then witnessed a crazy lady scream, "I'm not leaving without my KKKOOOOOBBBBBOOOOO!" and then got chased by the managers and security as she ran screaming through the store, and eventually got dragged out to the waiting police. It was a good time.
The problem is, because I've already seen and read Pet Sematary, and seen (but not read) Village of the Damned (I've actually seen that one multiple times, because hot ass Kirstie Alley is hot) I was easily able to predict where the story was going. I mean, I pretty much figured out where shit was going once I read the back, so I just had to wait for the book to catch up with my *ahem* stunning intellect, which, luckily, didn't take too long. It was a super quick and easy read, and it required very little brain power to get through it, so even when I gapped out over the course of a page or two, all I had to do was a quick re-skim to get the gist of what was happening. I literally blasted through this in less than 24 hours, which is pretty fuckin' good for me these days. Hey, I have a busy social life, including themes such as ferret playdates, Thirsty Thursday, and recovering from Thirsty Thursday.
There was enough blood and guts and horror to get me interested, and it was weird enough to keep me going. There was most definitely some bizarre scenarios being played out on the regular, and I like weird. I wouldn't have been interested in the first place if there was no weirdness to draw me in. And I have to admit, K. A. John can paint a ruined, crushed, and utterly destroyed female protagonist pretty damn well.
The part that bothered me the most though ( besides the blatant disregard for animal welfare) was that it ended so abruptly and without explanation. It was as though the author was under deadline, was supposed to have the last 50 pages done for the next day, got shit-hammered (possibly at Thirsty Thursday?) and threw the epilogue together while she was hungover. It made little sense, and would have benefited from longer treatment.
My opinion? A good beach or camping read, but hardly literature.
Wake Wood
K. A. John
Horror
Published 2011
295 pages
7/10
In the tiny Irish village of Wake Wood, the residents welcome newcomers only if they're a certain type of people, as they live in a very... special place. Patrick and Louise have just lost their daughter in a horrific accident, and are living shattered shells of their former lives, barely hanging on to any semblance of their former selves. And Wake Wood is welcoming them with open arms.
This book is what would happen if Pet Sematary and Village of the Damned got together for a cheap one night stand and had a baby made of paper and ink. Literally. Only the names seem to be different. I mean, I don't think I can really complain; when I read the synopsis on the back of the book, I thought, "This sounds just like Pet Sematary! I LOVED that shit!" and then whisked it up to the insane Boxing Day line-up at Chapters, where I then witnessed a crazy lady scream, "I'm not leaving without my KKKOOOOOBBBBBOOOOO!" and then got chased by the managers and security as she ran screaming through the store, and eventually got dragged out to the waiting police. It was a good time.
The problem is, because I've already seen and read Pet Sematary, and seen (but not read) Village of the Damned (I've actually seen that one multiple times, because hot ass Kirstie Alley is hot) I was easily able to predict where the story was going. I mean, I pretty much figured out where shit was going once I read the back, so I just had to wait for the book to catch up with my *ahem* stunning intellect, which, luckily, didn't take too long. It was a super quick and easy read, and it required very little brain power to get through it, so even when I gapped out over the course of a page or two, all I had to do was a quick re-skim to get the gist of what was happening. I literally blasted through this in less than 24 hours, which is pretty fuckin' good for me these days. Hey, I have a busy social life, including themes such as ferret playdates, Thirsty Thursday, and recovering from Thirsty Thursday.
There was enough blood and guts and horror to get me interested, and it was weird enough to keep me going. There was most definitely some bizarre scenarios being played out on the regular, and I like weird. I wouldn't have been interested in the first place if there was no weirdness to draw me in. And I have to admit, K. A. John can paint a ruined, crushed, and utterly destroyed female protagonist pretty damn well.
The part that bothered me the most though ( besides the blatant disregard for animal welfare) was that it ended so abruptly and without explanation. It was as though the author was under deadline, was supposed to have the last 50 pages done for the next day, got shit-hammered (possibly at Thirsty Thursday?) and threw the epilogue together while she was hungover. It made little sense, and would have benefited from longer treatment.
My opinion? A good beach or camping read, but hardly literature.
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