Hello, hello readers!

Summer is in full effect, and that means vacation time! I’m too broke to take a vacation right now, so I decided to take a little adventure instead with The Ruins by Scott Smith.

For those of you familiar with my own published works, it’s not lost on me that this title shares the title of my own novel called The Ruins. However, I was in no way inspired by this book or the film adaptation, despite both stories sharing basic similarities.

I saw the film adaptation of this book years ago and loved it, so I’ve been meaning to read the novel for quite some time. Let’s see how it went!

Blurb

Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine. Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.

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The Review

This was tough to rate, but in the end I’m a little on the fence with this read.

A small group of friends are enjoying their long vacation in Mexico, soaking up the sun and making new friends. However, one of their new friend’s brother has gone missing, only a hastily drawn note telling of where he’s gone to. In an attempt to switch up their vacation routine of lounging on the beach, the small group of friends set out to search for their acquaintance’s lost brother, unknowing of the horror that awaits that in the depths of the Mexican jungle.

I plead the fifth. I watched the film adaptation of this novel first, and I absolutely loved the movie so I figured I would love this too. Well, not quite as much.

The premise really drew me in. Vacation-themed horror, a foreign location, and killer plants is such a fascinating combination. I loved the setting. It all seems nice when you’re at a resort, but out in the wilderness it’s brutal.

I enjoyed how flawed the characters were. Jeff is the man with a plan, Eric is the funny overly forgiving one, Stacy is the firecracker, and Amy the dedicated girlfriend who likes to whine here and there. Their dialogue felt real, and they had their fair share of drama, which did makes things more entertaining here and there.

Where things went off the rails for me was the plot and pacing. Things progressed really well in the beginning, but once the terrible events start to unravel the pace slows down, enough to make the rest of the book something of a slog. Don’t get me wrong, creepy developments with the plants and feats of survival kept this interesting, but it just dragged for the most part. I think that so much emphasis was put on the characters and their inner struggle that the plants just didn’t get enough page time.

If you like a character-focused horror story you’ll really enjoy this, but for me it didn’t check all of the boxes.

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. Like what you see? Leave a tip!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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