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Dickicht

Scott Smith,

Christine Strüh (Translator)

3.59 · Rating details · 33,294 ratings · 3,877 reviews

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 fu ...more

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Paperback, 478 pages

Published June 2007 by Fischer (first published 2006)

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Oct 03, 2016 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

“The vines covered everything but the path and the tent’s orange fabric. In some places, they grew thinly enough that Eric could glimpse the soil underneath – rockier than he would’ve expected, dry, almost desertlike – but in others, they seemed to fold back upon themselves, piling layer upon layer, forming waist-high mounds, tangled knoll-like profusions of green. And everywhere, hanging like bells from the vines, were those brilliant bloodred flowers…”
- Scott Smith, The Ruins

I’ve always had t ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Kemper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, horror, 2014-reread, mexico

Scott Smith’s wrote one of my favorite crime novels with A Simple Plan that released in 1993. Thirteen years later came his second book, The Ruins which instantly became one of my favorite horror novels. I’ve got my fingers crossed that sometime later this decade he’ll write another one and maybe it’ll turn out to be the greatest sci-fi epic I’ve ever read.

The concept here is dirt simple. Idiots go somewhere they shouldn’t and bad shit happens. In this particular case four American college stud ...more

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Nov 19, 2013 David Putnam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Horror is my least favorite genre but real read horror if it's well written and The Ruins is wonderful. I loved it. I read The Simple Plan and loved the prose and the characterization between the two brothers. I thought Simple Plan would be a one and out and then The Ruins came out. I bought because of how much I loved Simple Plan and was not disappointed. I wish he would write them faster. The Ruins is more about the relationship between friends when put under extreme stress. So if you like wel ...more

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Aug 30, 2007 Aaron rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: horror fans

Stephen King has a short story (that I believe may have been entitled "The Raft") in which four college students head out to an old rock quarry. They swim out to a raft in the middle of the lake. As the afternoon progresses, they notice what appears to be a patch of oil skimming the surface of the water. One of the students dives into the lake for a post-coital swim and is mysteriously and grotesquely devoured by the oil patch, his skin pretty much being stripped right from its bones. Now horrif ...more

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Mar 08, 2008 Campbell rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: no one.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow, what a disappointment. I'd been so excited about this-- I'm not a horror novel fan, but this had gotten such great reviews, I figured I'd give it a try. The trailer for the movie also looked intriguing. Unfortunately, you may as well just watch the trailer and read the first forty pages of the book, because beyond that, it doesn't deliver.
My first issue with the book was the characters-- they're the most one dimensional people I've come across in long time. Goldilocks had more personality Wow, what a disappointment. I'd been so excited about this-- I'm not a horror novel fan, but this had gotten such great reviews, I figured I'd give it a try. The trailer for the movie also looked intriguing. Unfortunately, you may as well just watch the trailer and read the first forty pages of the book, because beyond that, it doesn't deliver.
My first issue with the book was the characters-- they're the most one dimensional people I've come across in long time. Goldilocks had more personality. It's hard to feel a whole lot of sympathy or empathy for characters who are nothing more than stock types-- "the ditzy sexy girl"; " the boy scout" etc. Smith acknowledges their single dimensions midway through the book when the characters are talking about a film version of their situation and one of the character breaks them all down into types ("the boy scout" "the prissy girl" "the slut" "the funny guy"). Too bad Smith never makes the effort to flesh the characters out. It's hard to get too worked up about their deaths when you don't feel like there's anything at stake.
The second problem (and a far bigger one, in my opinion), is the lack of pay off. Early in the book, the characters end up stranded on a mountain, kept captive by a Mayan village who forces them to stay on the mountain with this monster plant. Yeah, yeah, the plant's terrible, it's carnivorous and smart and is able to torture and kill it's captives. Once I got to the point in the book where it's clear the characters are stuck on the mountain, I thought, "I sure hope the next 400 pages aren't spent just detailing how these people die. I sure hope we solve the mystery of where the plant came from, why the Mayans are in collusion with it, and if it's truly a plant at all or an extension of something much more ominous below the surface." So if you ask yourself the same questions and think you'll get answers later in the book, save yourself the time. None of those things are answered and it is, in fact, 400 pages of describing each of their demise.
Part of the problem stems from Smith's tactic of only writing from the point of view of the American characters. If the characters were interesting, it might be worthwhile to see how they handle this awful and confusing situation, but we've already addressed that these folks are pretty dull. I think a more interesting approach would've been to either tell part of the story from the Mayan's point of view or from an omniscient POV, detailing the history of why such a malevolent force is at work in this spot. Maybe my perception was skewed from the film trailers in thinking that this might be revealed.
I found the book frustrating because the characters briefly seem to be going in this direction, mentioning how the Mayans have contained the plant and guessing at why they continue to hold people captive here. They also touch on the fact that the plant may not be a plant at all. Unfortunately, Smith doesn't explore these ideas either through speculation on the characters' parts or by having the characters physically seek out the source of the plant. Sure, it may be unbelievable that the characters would risk their lives trying to find the source, but believability went out the window when the plant started talkig. Smith already set up that the characters are boring,not so bright, and going to die anyway, so why not have them die in the pursuit of what this thing actually is?
Overall, I thought the book was pisspoor. The first 40 pages are good, the story is tightly wound and propulsive, but after that, you may as well watch any generic slasher flick. ...more

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Feb 10, 2014 Dan Schwent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Dan by: Kemper, Trudi

Shelves: horror, 2014

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When four American college students and a German tourist go on a foray into the Mexican jungle, searching for the German's missing brother, they have no idea of the horror they will find themselves entangled in. Will any of them leave the jungle alive?

I was in the mood for some horror and received recommendations for this book from two highly regarded reviewers. I'm proud to say Kemper and Trudi weren't wrong.

The Ruins is the story of five people who make a series of questionable choices and win When four American college students and a German tourist go on a foray into the Mexican jungle, searching for the German's missing brother, they have no idea of the horror they will find themselves entangled in. Will any of them leave the jungle alive?

I was in the mood for some horror and received recommendations for this book from two highly regarded reviewers. I'm proud to say Kemper and Trudi weren't wrong.

The Ruins is the story of five people who make a series of questionable choices and wind up trapped on top of a hill with a killer vine terrorizing them. It reminded me of The Troop quite a bit in the way the relationships disintegrated as supplies ran low and the vine got more and more vicious. After one stupid mistake, things quickly fell apart. I'm surprised the characters lasted as long as they did.

This book seems to have a polarising effect among reviewers. Part of it is probably that it straddles the line between horror and thriller, stymying people who like to be able to slap a convenient label on things. The other part is probably the characters. I didn't find any of them overly likeable but I didn't hate any of them either. Sure, I wanted to slap them around from the moment they decided it was a good idea to go for a romp in the Mexican jungle all the way until the end but that's how horror stories of this type go sometimes.

Eric's self-mutilation was one of the creepier parts of the book, made creepier at the end when it turned out he actually had vines inside him. I felt bad for Jeff, trying to hold things together when everyone else seemed continually on the verge of losing his or her shit. I think I would have pushed some assholes down the mineshaft when he came back to find them all drunk.

The vine was creepy but that wasn't a surprise since plants are emotionless monsters. Just look at the Venus Flytrap or watch how quickly plants overtake an abandoned shed or cabin. I didn't have a problem with the plant's intelligence but I will admit that its mimicry was a little far fetched at the end.

While The Ruins isn't your grandma's horror novel, it delivers the goods if you're looking for a tale of desperation and creepiness. Four out of five stars. ...more

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Apr 18, 2017 Sadie Hartmann rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'll start this review off with a quote from a fellow Goodreads buddy, Edward
"That's one of the things I loved about this book. All the characters were either assholes or idiots."

And this is the truth.

What would happen if a bunch of idiots/assholes vacationed in Cancun and stupidly went into the jungle looking for a stranger's lost brother without proper attire, supplies or even at the very BASIC LEVEL, a way to get back home?
You can read all about one author's imaginative tale of just that very ...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Trudi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: survive-this, group-in-peril, scary-as-hell, infection, my-desert-island, favorites, stephen-king-recommends, made-into-movie, man-vs-nature, horror

***Please indulge me while I float this older review for a horror novel that remains near and dear to my heart. If you are looking for some genuine thrills and chills this Halloween season, this may be the book for you. Happy All Hallow's Read!

I just don't get the storm of criticism aimed at Scott Smith's second novel, The Ruins. Why do people love to hate this book? I found the story to be brutally convincing and the characters believable (if not always very likable). These are college-age kid ...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Adam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-fiction, fiction

Scott Smith's The Ruins is one of the best horror novels I've read in some time. It would be really easy for me to rip into it. The premise is, frankly, ridiculous, and its plot is nothing but doom and gloom. So why did I love it so much? Simply because it was completely convincing, engrossing, and terrifying. I don't think I have ever found myself squirming as much while reading as I was for this book's last 20 pages or so.

I think The Ruins works as well as it does because of Smith's writing an Scott Smith's The Ruins is one of the best horror novels I've read in some time. It would be really easy for me to rip into it. The premise is, frankly, ridiculous, and its plot is nothing but doom and gloom. So why did I love it so much? Simply because it was completely convincing, engrossing, and terrifying. I don't think I have ever found myself squirming as much while reading as I was for this book's last 20 pages or so.

I think The Ruins works as well as it does because of Smith's writing and characterizations. There are a lot of negative reviews of this book on this site. The most common complaints are that the characters were unlikable, that there were no lofty themes or messages in the story, and that the nature of the threat the characters face in the Mayan ruins where most of the book takes place was impossible to take seriously.

I didn't find the characters at all unlikable. They infuriated and saddened me consistently, because their flaws were all either ones I see in myself or in other people and am powerless to change, but I never found them unlikable. They are drawn so well, in fact, that they really seemed like real people to me. And real people in peril are the worst kind of people. If you've ever wondered what your significant other or best friend would do in a situation of extreme peril with you and found yourself feeling sick and worried, then this novel will probably twist your guts up. And terrify you.

No big themes? Again, I liked this. If there were, it would have blunted the terror. This is a story of a few people in the midst of a crisis over the course of a few days. They don't have the luxury of reflection, and neither does the reader. This book might not teach you anything, but its immediacy is chilling.

As far as the nature of the threat that faces them in the ruins, I can't disagree. There are a number of reasons why it's incredibly silly. But at the same time, in the context of the story, it's really not. I, for one, found it disturbing for a number of reasons.

If you're able to read The Ruins and tell yourself, "This could never happen," then you'll probably hate it. But if you're able to give yourself over to the situation and see yourself in the novel's characters, you will feel a creepy and pervading sense of doom. ...more

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Sep 11, 2019 ✨Sumi's Books✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

OMG it's finally over...
I don't say that because this book was bad. To the contrary, I say that because I have spent the last week trapped on a hilltop with these 6 characters as they slowly deteriorate. It was maddening!
So the premise of the story is that these 6 characters go off looking for a Mayan temple in an effort to find Mathias's wayward brother who had left days before with some girl he had just met. She is said to have been a part of an archaeological dig in a ruined Mayan temple. Whe OMG it's finally over...
I don't say that because this book was bad. To the contrary, I say that because I have spent the last week trapped on a hilltop with these 6 characters as they slowly deteriorate. It was maddening!
So the premise of the story is that these 6 characters go off looking for a Mayan temple in an effort to find Mathias's wayward brother who had left days before with some girl he had just met. She is said to have been a part of an archaeological dig in a ruined Mayan temple. When the friends stumble upon this temple they find that not everything is what It seems.
Okay can I just say that this book gets 5 stars purely for yuck factor. Yuck!!! I mean seriously, this book completely made my skin crawl! I have a problem with things being underneath my skin such as intravenous needles and it got to a point where I almost threw the book down because I could not handle it. And the book is so well written and the scenes are so well described that you can see and even FEEL everything perfectly in your mind's eye.
Let's talk about the movie for a second, Scott Smith was good enough to write the screenplay for the movie which was awesome because it did the book justice, it really did. The problem that I have was the switching around at the character roles. It really messed me up because, now having read the book and because the book came first, I feel as though the movie kind of screwed things up a bit. That and although the movie was very graphic in some parts, it really did not bring to life the death scenes as the book did. In the book it goes through each character's death through their own point of view as they are dying which is some pretty deep shit if you ask me! The movie just doesn't give you those feelings that the book does. Also the film doesn't make you feel as hopeless as the book does.
But never mind all that. The book was fabulous to say the least. The film started off as one of my favorite horror films but the book has definitely taken a higher place on the mantle for me as far as horror is concerned.
I can't say it enough, YUCK!!!! 🤮
Very very well done and I highly recommend it to those with a strong stomach and a love of horror.

Or you can watch my review here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESdTW... ...more

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May 09, 2008 Nancyc rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I just finished reading The Ruins by Scott Smith. If you plan to read it, stop here, because I'm about to take a stroll through it.

Reading The Ruins as a writer, got through the first 75 pages and asked myself how this writer managed to get me to follow these people into the jungle when I didn't particularly like any of them.

The Ruins is about four recent college grads on vacation in Cancun, who go off on an adventure to help an acquaintance find his brother. The college grads are comprised of t I just finished reading The Ruins by Scott Smith. If you plan to read it, stop here, because I'm about to take a stroll through it.

Reading The Ruins as a writer, got through the first 75 pages and asked myself how this writer managed to get me to follow these people into the jungle when I didn't particularly like any of them.

The Ruins is about four recent college grads on vacation in Cancun, who go off on an adventure to help an acquaintance find his brother. The college grads are comprised of two American couples, Eric and Stacy and Jeff and Amy. Although they have distinct personalities, none of them stands out as a person I would follow on a day trip away from the beach. When their German friend, Mathias, tells them that he must travel to an obscure Mayan archaeological dig to retrieve his lovesick brother, Jeff volunteers himself and his friends to keep him company. And let the foreshadowing begin.

None of the Americans really seem happy to leave the beach. Eric is so hung over, I expect his eyes to start bleeding, Stacy doesn't seem to think about whether she wants to go or not...she just follows Jeff's lead and remains the classic follower until there's... um...no one left to follow. Amy whines about going but then remembers she's been criticized for whining and summarily shuts up and goes. And I follow right along with them, thinking, "They're not really prepared. Do they know where they're going? Should they trust Mathias?" They have a hand-written map, where public transportation only takes them within 15 miles of the spot. The bus ride is ominous, the pickup truck ride to the trail head is stressful, the truck driver tries to warn them, they encounter an entire town of Mayans who try to stop them, and Amy continues to snap photos. At the last minute, a smiling Greek, bearing the gift of three bottles of tequila, joins them.

That the Greek speaks no English is only one of the language barriers the Americans encounter. They can't talk to the Mayans either. And the Mayans are clearly trying to tell them something kind of important. Something like, Don't Step Onto The Hill With The Red Flowering Vine. They do, of course, and that seals their fate. Looking back, I don't know why I didn't predict the end. They all die. There are no heroes, no survivors. Their collective penchant for sniping at each other and their private pools of fear and self-doubt take them straight to their deaths.

That pretty red-flowered vine turns out to be a carnivorous plant with super human abilities. It can mimic them in their own voices and knows just what to say to hurt them better than a kid sister with a crush on her sister's boyfriend. When hunger makes them swoon, it can engulf the hilltop with scents like freshly baked bread or steaks barbecuing. Yep. It's one mean plant. But the two couples, the German and the Greek never really question what it is or why the Mayans feel the need to keep them on the hill at gunpoint. They never try to find a weakness in their enemy. Nor do they work to make a plan to escape. They wait, hoping that the Greek's companions will come for them. Two other Greek men, who don't speak any English, Spanish or Mayan, are their only hope for survival from this situation.

Is there a message here? Something beyond entertainment? The Ruins does break a lot of formula expectations. No survivors, no heroes, no escape plan. They are four Americans, newly graduated from college, affluent, white and ready to begin adult life. By American standards, they are four young people who have the world by the ass. Yet they are not prepared to survive any difficulties. In fact, they are all basically lead to their deaths, whining and longing for another drink.

Another thing that Smith does is he keeps them all alive for an agonizingly long time after their fate is sealed. I kept expecting people to start dying off. But no one dies until more than 3/4 of the book is gone. Once the first one dies, though, Jill comes tumbling after... they drop pretty quickly. The sad part is, I'm grateful to see them go. They're the kind of people you might have a drink with at a tavern and never remember any of their names an hour later.

Okay...since I said at the beginning that I was going to go through the book, I don't feel like I've spoiled anything for anyone. Just thinking it through.
...more

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Sep 21, 2017 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Requires a decent suspension of disbelief, but it's absolutely propulsive. No one plots better than Scott Smith when it comes to events spiraling out of control, and the writing is clean and full of drive. Very well-done. ...more

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Aug 27, 2020 Larry rated it liked it · review of another edition

Decent read, had some redeeming qualities, but in my humble opinion, could have explored so much more (jungle, abandoned mines, Mayan culture / curses, strangers banding together for survival). If you like body horror, you’ll enjoy this book. Will watch the movie as well for comparison.

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Apr 18, 2017 Cody | CodysBookshelf rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

It'd been a while since I read a book that horrified, sickened, and amazed me in equal measure; The Ruins did all those things with ease. I was shocked at just how much I loved this novel. I did not expect it to totally blow me away. The characters are mostly unlikable and infuriating, and I must admit I had trouble reading about them at first, but that's the point — being trapped in the jungle and fighting for one's life brings out the very worst in a person.

This is a brutal, agonizing read. Th ...more

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Aug 12, 2019 Delee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: group-or-buddy-read, pantless-group-read, horror

Hold my hand...cover my eyes..don't leave me...support buddy-read- Some books are tooooooo scaaaaaary to read alone. ...more

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May 18, 2020 Ashley Daviau rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

How have I gone this long without reading this book?! I’m legit kicking myself for not reading it sooner because it is BEYOND brilliant. I was instantly sucked in and kept compulsively turning the pages to find out what would happen next. I knew disaster was just waiting to strike and I was THERE for it! A big factor in my enjoyment of this book was the characters. They were either assholes or idiots or a stunning combination of both and their incredibly stupid decision making is what led to the ...more

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May 26, 2016 Tom Mathews rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2016, not-for-the-squeamish, horror, latin-america

The buzz is that this is an extremely graphic novel so I have put off reading it for several years. Now that I have read it, or listened to it actually, I'm not going to disagree with the buzz but I am going to say that this was easily one of the best horror novels I've ever read. I wouldn't change a thing about it. ...more

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Apr 28, 2016 Horace Derwent rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The power of syntax and lexico

And it's just a mindfuck, hail！

the hardcover edition received, HELLYEAH

life is ephemeral, many books in ours just can't get the chance of being read twice, but absolutely not for this book \m/ ...more

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Aug 27, 2019 Becky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019, bad-shit-and-atrocities, owned, apocalyptic-types, mystery-and-thrillers, horror, reviewed

Catch-up Review 4 of 4:
This book has been on ~~Mt.~~ Vine Covered Hill TBR for 9 years, 10 months, 1 week, and 5 days as of today. I added it on October 16, 2009. Obama was still in his first year. There were still only four Song of Ice and Fire books out, and the fifth was nearly 2 years away. There were only TWO MCU movies in existence. TWO. There are 23 out now. THAT is how long this book sat on my shelf. I don't know why any of that matters, but when I saw how close it was to being a full damn d ...more

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May 04, 2016 Obsidian rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-2016

This is one of the books set aside for the Horror Aficionados May reads. Up until now I had heard that this book was fantastic, scary, and thought provoking. Remind me to never trust people again when they mention a book is scary, my idea of scary is apparently different. This book had a lot of gross situations that tried my stomach, but that was about it.

So, this tale begins in Mexico (Yucatan peninsula). We have four Americans who are on vacation before they go off and start school. There is E This is one of the books set aside for the Horror Aficionados May reads. Up until now I had heard that this book was fantastic, scary, and thought provoking. Remind me to never trust people again when they mention a book is scary, my idea of scary is apparently different. This book had a lot of gross situations that tried my stomach, but that was about it.

So, this tale begins in Mexico (Yucatan peninsula). We have four Americans who are on vacation before they go off and start school. There is Eric and his girlfriend Stacy and Jeff and his girlfriend Amy. The reason why I wrote it that way was the simple fact that Stacy and Amy may as well be named Frick and Frack for as much attention as Mr. Smith pays attention to them over the course of this book. This book was primarily about the issue between the boys in this book. We all know that girls are stupid.

The foursome befriends a German tourist named Mathias and some Greeks, one specifically named Pablo. Mathias is trying to find his brother Heinrich who has run off to find the love of his life (he says) that is off to do an archaeological dig. And this is how I know I am a terrible person. If I am on vacation, and one of my friends says, "hey, let's go with this guy we just met to go find his brother." I would lower my sunglasses down, look my friend right in the eye, and ask them had they lost their damn mind. Bah.

The group of now 6 decides this is something smart they should do and off they go with a poorly drawn map to find Heinrich. After Amy is warned by their driver (I think it was Amy, honestly I can't even remember, and I refuse to go back and re-listen) about this being a bad place, the group goes forward. Coming across a Mayan village, the group finds a hidden path and chooses to take that. And that's where things go from bad to worse for the group.

I am not going to spoil what happens to the group or what they find except to say that I had a hard time believing it and maybe it would have been set up better if Mr. Smith had set up a prologue or something describing the "bad" thing and how the hell the "bad" thing was even able to do what it did because it made no damn sense at all. I am going to keep saying "bad" thing because why not be repetitive in this review, the entire book was repetitive to the point it almost made me bang my head to knock myself unconscious.

I am not even going to get into the characters because they all as one had no depth. They were six faceless characters who kept making dumb decision after dumb decision. Being trapped and you decide to just sit in the sun and get drunk on tequila? You also take some of your water to wash the pee off your foot because some splashed on you when you went to the bathroom? I mean good grief.

Seriously, this was one of the worst books I have ever listened to. I think it was a combination of poor writing and the lack of life in Patrick Wilson's voice. Let us not speak of his horrible attempts at an accent for Mathias and when he voiced Amy or Stacy. It was terrible. There was no inflection in the man's voice at all. He might as well have been reading the Sunday papers out loud to a blank wall.

The setting of the Yucatan peninsula wasn't very well used. We just had a lot of Mayans who were sitting around and did not speak English or Spanish, but could hold guns/bows and arrows, etc. Riddle me this. If you know a place is dangerous, wouldn't you put up something besides some fronds to keep people out? Wouldn't you go around and ask someone who does speak English/Spanish to put up a Danger stay out sign? I mean the driver who took the group there spoke English and apparently knew what was going on in the area, so what the holy hell was going on there? I mean I guess the Mayans were in on it? Or not, who knows, this book doesn't do a great job of world building so there is a lot of guessing going on.

The ending was anti-climatic. It wasn't shocking, wasn't surprising in the least, and then I rolled my eyes at what looks to be same shit, different day, with another group. So do I recommend this?

NOPE. ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Dirk Grobbelaar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: acquired-in-2014, books-i-own, horror

Are you lost?

Jeepers – this novel was hard to read! Not because it was bad by any means, but because of the harrowing situation the author creates for his characters.

The Ruins features some pretty explicit descriptive imagery. I’m not sure whether I would describe it as an overly “gory” novel though. The blood and guts sequences are treated with the clinical detachment of a surgeon: that’s to say, it’s pretty bloody but isn’t all that messy. Except, of course, when it is…

What really got to me ...more

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Aug 23, 2019 Ɗẳɳ 2.☊ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, buddy-reads

★★★☆☆½

Always be prepared—the motto drilled into ever Boy Scout’s head from day one—never much crossed the minds of the group of twentysomethings heading out into the jungles of Mexico. A group of friends and recent acquaintances gathered together early one morning on a mission to track down a kid brother who’s runoff after a girl.

They’ve got to get a move on if they want to catch that bus to Coba, but their tails are dragging after a late night of drinking. From Coba, it’s another eleven grueli ...more

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Nov 23, 2016 Rachel Bea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-of-2016, favorite-books-of-2016, fall-into-reading, horror, horror-i-read-in-2016

loved it! I remember the movie but not well, so I went into the book almost fresh. Gruesome and well-written read. the characters were all kind of annoying, but I also think they were realistic. And as someone who went on a Mayan archaeological dig as part of her curriculum in college I had an extra connection to the plot, lol.

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Oct 09, 2019 Shaina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: myth, eerie-spooky-gothic-weird-creepy, history, really-gross-like-nauseatingly-eyew, my-own-1001-book-list, horror-afficionados, 2018, events, kindle, books-of-the-month

Okay, after thinking about this book, though it was last year that I read it, I’m writing another review to replace the one that vanished.
When I finished the book I was pretty angry. But I think that might have been the point. Without exactly giving anything away, you are led through this entire trip with some kids on vacation. Post- high school or college age kids... wandering around in Mexico somewhere or on an island; they get big ideas. And do you think any of them spoke Spanish or decided Okay, after thinking about this book, though it was last year that I read it, I’m writing another review to replace the one that vanished.
When I finished the book I was pretty angry. But I think that might have been the point. Without exactly giving anything away, you are led through this entire trip with some kids on vacation. Post- high school or college age kids... wandering around in Mexico somewhere or on an island; they get big ideas. And do you think any of them spoke Spanish or decided to get a guide when they decided to wander off into the jungle and find some ancient ruins ? No. I kept saying “You idiots!” Never go wandering off in a JUNGLE in a place you don’t understand. Mistake number one.

They just kinda have an idea where this ruin is. Oh, someone, someone please. These poor idiots. This is jungle. They hop in the back of some guy’s truck and he takes them as far as he can but he tells them, three or four times, don’t go there... it’s BAD! They run into a native tribe. They of course try to get directions. No one will speak about it.

How many hints do these idiots need!!! This was driving me crazy by this point but, yes, for the rest of the book to take place they have to be stupid enough to get there. So...

Long story short .. a man catches them about to step out into a clearing that divides the ruin from the rest of the land. He is seriously trying to stop them! There is one in the group taking pictures. You’d think she’d cool it but, no.

She trips over a flowery vine in her picture taking idiocy and suddenly he is shoving them all toward the ruin instead of trying to keep them away!
Now it’s the opposite. The tribesmen guard them and keep them on the hill, with the ruin, with the indication they will be killed if they come down.
Why ?
Oh .. they slowly (way too slowly) figure it out.
The Indians know the evil that resides on that ruin and they want to keep it there.
They start trying to figure out how to survive until they are missed though no one knows of this side venture and a way to get past the guardians and escape. But they don’t realize they have far worse problems right there with them.

The villain, the evil, the entity in this story is the genius part. The characters drive me crazy except for one.
The predatory evil in this book is why it gets rated so high. It’s why it’s rounded up to 4. It is what made every page of frustrating character dialogue and idiocy worth it.

3.5 rounded up ...more

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Oct 12, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is horror at its finest. It's hard to believe all the negative reviews this book gets. I have 7 to 10 books that I always keep extra copies of, so when I meet a horror fan who hasn't read one of my favorites, all I have to do is grab an extra from my bookshelves and say, here, give this one a shot. I've given away 2 copies of this book in the 10 years that it's been out, and so far everyone has loved it. Even my husband liked it, and he only reads thrillers. I have no review for this book, ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Shaina rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, eerie-spooky-gothic-weird-creepy, have-own, kindle, books-of-the-month, 2018, archaeology, my-own-1001-book-list, the-great-outdoors, review-of-the-year

3.5 ⭐️This book started out in an odd way and with what felt like, to me was a rocky tone. It just starts telling you random bits of things, spitting them at you and in random order. Maybe we were supposed to feel like (stereotypical) disorganized and ignorant college kids that had gotten drunk on the beach the night before ? Maybe. If so, that was effective.

I kept telling myself, okay, it will settle eventually into an individual’s point of view; or become at least somewhat more coherent and s 3.5 ⭐️This book started out in an odd way and with what felt like, to me was a rocky tone. It just starts telling you random bits of things, spitting them at you and in random order. Maybe we were supposed to feel like (stereotypical) disorganized and ignorant college kids that had gotten drunk on the beach the night before ? Maybe. If so, that was effective.

I kept telling myself, okay, it will settle eventually into an individual’s point of view; or become at least somewhat more coherent and showy, rather than spitting it out and telling me in such a random way.
I kept going and I gave it a chance. It does settle down somewhat with the fact spitting, and just starts to tell the story more by trying to open the door for the reader and let them in, but it’s not too good at it.
It is a tension filled novel and maybe that is why it was written like this in such a jolting manner. It became smoother, but still I could see it being so much better if the characters were fleshed out more and made a bit more likable. Some parts of all of them were a bit likable, you know, what was there. There wasn’t much depth allowed, it seemed. I think that should be part of the horror, ie; being attached to a character that you get to know and appreciate that fights so hard only to perhaps be the one to die suddenly. Perhaps not!

This book did hold my attention and I liked Jeff because he was smart and he and Matthias made a good team. But I almost feel like even he had a case of the stupids at a time or two. But it was a bad situation. My gosh just ugh !! I’m frustrated with the characters. You are in Cancún and staying there for a number of weeks. It’s just Spanish. You can’t learn the important phrases? Or like why not sit with Dora the explorer a few times ! I could understand Mayan somehow even though I just knew Spanish so I’m not sure what the deal was there. Mayan-Spanish ... I digress.

So, all in all, pretty unsettling story I will say, but has some irksome things about it. The entity part was very unsettling and interesting. So freaky. So so freaky. It made reading through some of the spacey characters thoughts and getting through some of the choppiness in the beginning worth it. I enjoyed and was freaked out by it. One thing needed. Fire. ...more

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Apr 28, 2017 Richard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

7.5/10

Not as enjoyable as his other book, “A Simple Plan” but still an interesting read overall. Why won’t this guy write a little quicker? Two books in over a decade isn’t prolific enough for my liking, especially when they're this good!!! Do what I demand and write more!

This is a complete change in style to his other book, this is more horror of the human vs. nature type but also the horrors of being a human and the choices we have to make in certain situations. The characters are flawed and ...more

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Aug 02, 2011 K.D. Absolutely rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Jzhunagev

Shelves: horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is my Halloween read for this year and it is very apt because it is really, really scary. While reading that part when the killer vine is going inside the body of its prey, I thought I could feel my limbs or my abdominal cavity constricting as if I could feel something slithering under my skin and putting pressure on my muscles. I thought I could feel the cool misty feel of the forest, smell the musky trees, hear the crowning cocks and chirping birds and see the sun going down and darkness This is my Halloween read for this year and it is very apt because it is really, really scary. While reading that part when the killer vine is going inside the body of its prey, I thought I could feel my limbs or my abdominal cavity constricting as if I could feel something slithering under my skin and putting pressure on my muscles. I thought I could feel the cool misty feel of the forest, smell the musky trees, hear the crowning cocks and chirping birds and see the sun going down and darkness slowly spreading in the sky turning the Mayan sacred hill into a graveyard full of immaculate white bones underneath the vines and beautiful purple flowers. What I am saying is that every page this book is truly engaging as it makes sure that your senses are busy working while reading. Imagining being in a forest is something that is easy for me to do because I grew up in an island in the Pacific when the vegetations in our coconut plantations were still thick and I used to walk in the rice/corn fields enjoying the morning mists or help my father in clearing up weeds and vines in between the mature coconut trees.

I neither have not read Scott B. Smith’s (born 1965) earlier hit, A Simple Plan nor have seen the movie adaptation of that or this The Ruins so I did not have any expectation prior to cracking this book open. With one exception: A good GR friend rated this with “1” star and I think that the disappointment was due to the fact that she had read and enjoyed A Simple Plan and reasonably expected that this book was at par with that earlier work. So, I said I would put this book last in my tbr and I did not plan to read this soon. It was just that I got bored with Stephen King’s It and I needed to have a Halloween read. I needed to feel scared and get in tune with this season.

I thought this was a good pick. It’s just that when I was finally done reading the book, I asked myself: so, is there any lesson or any learning or any new knowledge that I learned from this work? The resounding answer: none. It is all about being scared. It is an escapist book. It enables you to escape into another place and although you enjoy the scare, you bring back nothing. Definitely no takeaway. Mayan? It is an extinct tribe and Smith did not bother to mention anything regarding their history. Cancun? Easy, it is a place in Mexico. Four young single Americans vacationing in there? No brainer. Americans go everywhere they find interesting. Friendships among those four? They are so stupid they almost killed each other. The two brainless girls alternately saying ”bitch” and ”slut” to each other was even copied by the more intelligent killer vine. Oh, the killer vine? If Cormac McCarthy’s The Road makes us aware that we need to take care of our environment, Scott B. Smith’s The Ruins makes us want to hate forest because it is only in the forest where there are huge trees with vines. Nothing. Nada. It is like watching those B-grade horror flicks with thin plots where nothing is happening except that each of the characters has to die. You shout. You hyperventilate. You cringe on your seat. You cower in fear. You keep your eyes covered. But as you step out from the movie house, you feel cheated as you did not get any lesson from it. No lesson that could turn you into a better person. Waste of time. Waste of your hard-earned money.

But it is Halloween and I surely got that spirit of the season with this book. So, for Smith’s effort, I thought this deserves my two stars.
...more

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Apr 10, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-horror, horror

Well. That was weird.

I like horror as a genre. It’s weird to say this but it feels like home. I like the dark things. The nitty gritty things. The things that strip away all the luxuries and comforts of modern life and force characters to make difficult decisions. The internal struggle of survival versus our emotionally charged human minds.

This was an excellent example of that. Four friends take a summer trip to Mexico before they go off to new jobs or grad school. They meet some friends along t Well. That was weird.

I like horror as a genre. It’s weird to say this but it feels like home. I like the dark things. The nitty gritty things. The things that strip away all the luxuries and comforts of modern life and force characters to make difficult decisions. The internal struggle of survival versus our emotionally charged human minds.

This was an excellent example of that. Four friends take a summer trip to Mexico before they go off to new jobs or grad school. They meet some friends along the way. Eventually, their German friend Matthias asks them to help him fetch his brother from an archaeological dig in the jungle so they can fly home together. Of course this is where it all goes wrong.

The characters really weren’t all that special here. They were sort of card board cut outs. There’s Stacy the ditz, Amy the whiner, Jeff the leader and future doctor, Eric the clown, Pablo the goofy tourist tag along, Matthias the brooding German. I never felt any emotional attachment to them. I never said: “oh no don’t kill that one. I couldn’t stand it if they died!” It was a guilty pleasure sort of book where you find yourself cheering the villain on instead, wondering what new inventive method the villain will finally get them with.

And that’s where this book shines. I thought I’d seen the movie The Ruins. It turns out I haven’t- because Horror books are great, but horror movies that involve lots of gruesome scenes are really not my thing. I’m okay to read it somehow, just not watch it. So anyway, (view spoiler)

This is 500 pages long but they flew by. It was a very easy read and didn’t feel like 500 pages at all. My main issue with the format was two things: there are no official chapter breaks. Just a blank space between paragraphs indicating a POV change, and the POV changes themselves. Because there’s no chapter breaks, sometimes it’d switch POV and I’d have to go back and reread a paragraph or two when I realized the POV had shifted. It was a minor annoyance though and in retrospect, I think the author is always sure to mention the POV character’s name in the first line, you just had to make sure paid attention to it.

So anyway back to my main point: the will to survive vs emotional sense of right and wrong. There were plenty of times where it would have been easy to say, oh that’s stupid, Stacy should do X. Amy should do Y. But if you really think about it, what would you do in that situation, would it be so easy? I don’t think it would. (view spoiler)

This last bit is about the movie, because I love comparing books to their visual counterparts so Spoilers Ahead for both: (view spoiler)

So if you liked the movie read the book. If you like Horror, pick this up and don’t be put off by the blurb which doesn’t quite sell the book. It’s an easy read with a few flaws, but overall very entertaining. ...more

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Mar 07, 2019 Ellen Gail rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: seen-the-movie, i-will-survive, horror, impulse-purchase, underrated

I intended to read a little bit before bed. Instead I read the last 300 pages of this.

I'm definitely going to regret it in the morning, but right now I couldn't be happier with my decision.

Update from the next morning: I overslept by a good bit and was almost late. I had to violate some speed limits. But it was still worth it.

The Ruins made me want to A) torch all the plants around my porch, and B) hoard water, just absurd amounts of water. Also, that I probably should not drink tequila. But col ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: Cover missing	2	11	Dec 21, 2020 08:37PM
My Theory About the Vines spoiler	10	294	Oct 01, 2020 02:34PM
Anyone know a fan email or address for Scott Smith?	1	2	Feb 23, 2020 05:40PM
Anyone know an address for this author?	1	2	Feb 23, 2020 03:06PM
Play Book Tag: The Ruins / Scott B Smith - 3.5***	1	14	Nov 01, 2018 06:48PM

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About Scott Smith

Scott Smith

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Scott Bechtel Smith is an American author and screenwriter. He has published two suspense novels, A Simple Plan and The Ruins, and adapted them for the screen.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

(from wikipedia) ...more

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Quotes from Dickicht

“Stacy wasn't certain; she'd never bothered to pay attention to details like that, and was always regretting it, the half knowing, which felt worse than not knowing at all, the constant sense that she had things partly right, but not right enough to make a difference.” — 4 likes

“That was what they were so clearly doing here: they were waiting. And not in any suspense, either, not in any anxiety as to the outcome of their vigil. They were waiting with no apparent emotion at all, as one might sit over the course of an evening, watching a candle methodically burn itself into darkness, never less than certain of the outcome, confident that the only thing standing between now and the end of waiting was time itself.” — 1 likes

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