The Cabin at the End of the World

This book seems to be polarizing a lot of readers. Or at least the Amazon reviews which seem to mostly love the book or hate it. I don't know why. Personally, I would rank it as awesome! A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS was just a tad better in my opinion but they are photo-finish close in that ranking.

The story: seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin. One afternoon four strangers arrive carrying menacing weapons and needing their help to save the world. The story the strangers tell is crazy; their actions are even crazier. Or are they sane behavior from people who have no choice. Suddenly Eric, Andrew, and Wen must make some difficult choices in order to survive.

I found the story amazing. It was show more scary and terrifying but in part because it was so thought provoking. What would I have done if I was in their place? Would I have made the hard choice earlier? And if so, when? Because Tremblay made the characters so real, it made everything have more impact. The hardships and pain yanked hard on my heart. I felt for both the family and the strangers. One of the other things that Tremblay does with his novels (or at least the three I've read so far) is end them all with a touch of mystery. Was there really something supernatural that occurred or not? In this case, strangers claim the family needs to help save the world. So by the story's end, the world either has to be saved or be destroyed. But if the strangers are crazy, was the world really saved? Or were the claims deluded ravings from a madman? Unless the book ended with "The world then blew up.", you can never be sure. And that's what makes the story even better, that element of faith. Eric, Andrew, and Wen must have faith that the story is real, even if the messengers are crazy or demented. And as readers, we must decide who we want to believe. Taking Tremblay's story at face value is easy; seeing possibly demented motives makes it scarier. These are the type of books that will leave me pondering for days afterwards. And that is why I loved it. show less

Eric and Andrew are just trying to have a nice, relaxing vacation at a remote lakeside cabin with their seven-year-old daughter when four bizarre strangers force their way in, spouting apocalyptic visions and insisting that these random, ordinary people have to make a horrific sacrifice to stop the world from ending.

I... I'm gonna be honest, I kind of hate how much I liked this book. I tried not to! Because it's ridiculous, and it's manipulative, and it doesn't make very much sense. I spent so much of it with this little voice in the back of my head going, "Well, this is some bullshit. I may mostly may be reading on, honestly, to see whether the bullshit is ultimately the characters' or the author's." So, why did I feel a sense of show more growing tension through it all? Why did I not want to put it down when I needed to? Why did I find myself becoming truly fascinated by the different possible interpretations of the story's events? Why did I let out that long, satisfied breath at the ending?

All right. Well played. Mr. Tremblay. That was some bullshit, I guess, but it was some bullshit that, somehow, worked. show less

What would you give up to stop the apocalypse? What would you sacrifice? And would it be enough? Eric and Andrew and their daughter Wen are just trying to unplug in the woods of New Hampshire and are tasked to end the apocalypse. After witnessing the bashing of complete strangers and the events that could be coincidence or could be prophecy, they still can't make the sacrifice. After Wen is tragically killed during Andrew's struggle with a captor and a gun, they still can't make a sacrifice. As the not only the whole world, but their world specifically, darkens to the blackest of blacks, they still can't make the sacrifice. The ambiguity leaves room for despair or hope for a world that didn't know it hinged on the decisions of a small show more family just trying to get away from it all. show less

Yes yes yes with this book! Loved Tremblay´s A Head Full of Ghosts, so I dived right into his second book, and he did not disappoint.
In a mad whirl of events, we live the horrific experience Eric, Andrew and Wen go through when a group of 4 individuals invade their holiday cabin in the woods.
Andrew and Eric are a couple who have a 7 year old girl called Wen. Little do they know how much their lives are about to change with this home invasion. Leonard -one of the invaders- and his group claim to know that the world will end unless either Eric or Andrew offer themselves as a sacrifice and die in order to save everyone. Then, all hell breaks loose and events unfold in a surreal kind of way.
This is a really gripping and terrifying story. show more One that had me flying through the pages trying to catch my breath. I truly can't wait for his third book. show less

If countless horror movies haven't convinced you that it's never a good idea to vacation in a remote cabin in the woods, this book surely will. Married couple Eric and Andrew are vacationing with their adopted daughter Wen in the New Hampshire backwoods when four very creepy people show up, break in, and tell them that the world is going to end imminently if they don't make a horrendous choice. The action takes place over the next couple of days as the suspense ratchets up to unbearable levels--and Tremblay does not take the action in expected directions. Some readers may not care for the ending, but I thought it was perfect, because the novel captured so well the existential uncertainty we all live in, having to make choices without show more knowing what the potential consequences may be and having to continue moving forward no matter what--a theme that elevates this above a mere thriller. Paul Tremblay is fast becoming one of my favorite horror writers, and his latest did not disappoint. show less

"someone save us from all the everyday people."

I have to be honest, I had to sit with this one before doing a review. I've talked about the book with everyone I could over the last few days, trying to really mull over what I thought if it. It's a tough book, no doubt. It has this amazing feel to it - this horrible inescapable terror that is on almost every page. But it also has the realistic feel to it - so I spent the whole book going "is that how I'd handle that? Or that?" I tried to imagine how each scenario would play out and who I would believe. If the calm Leonard would pull me in or if Andrew would win me over. It was a struggle and it's left me struggling to articulate what I thought of it. I definitely liked the story - it was show more unique and I felt, realistic in so far as it could be. From there, it was just eerie and something I'm glad was only happening in a book, in a story, and not IRL.
I'm bumping my review up a star because it's stuck with me and really left me struggling and that means it MUST get at least 4 stars :) show less

Andrew and Eric take their eight-year-old daughter and go on vacation in an isolated cabin on a scenic lake in New Hampshire they're anticipating nothing more than time to unwind, to live without wifi or their phones, to let Wen goof around outside without constant supervision. But they've barely settled in when a man shows up on foot and starts a conversation with Wen, who is in the front yard catching grasshoppers. By the time she runs to tell her parents about the man outside, it's too late.

I picked this up after seeing mentions of how very scary this book is. Horror is hit or miss with me, and usually it misses. It's either so over the top I stop being scared and start to roll my eyes, or it's just not that scary. This novel leans show more towards both simultaneously and so sort of worked for me. Not in the sense that I was scared, but I was interested in what was going to happen next that I kept turning the pages. This is a home invasion story with a twist; the four intruders come armed with the most terrifying weapons imaginable (kudos to Paul Tremblay for thinking up those nightmare-worthy objects) and they are utterly convinced that the world will end unless the family does a horrific thing. These aren't monsters taking pleasure in causing pain, these are true believers. Tremblay does a good job of walking the fine line between presenting the intruders as delusional and of presenting them as being correct. He leaves enough room for the reader to interpret the events how they choose and he ends the book at the exactly right moment. If your secret fear is of being the target of a home invasion, this book will probably be terrifying in all the right ways. show less