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The Troop
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January 2022 Group Read #1 The Troop
I read this a few months ago. THat's a pity. But I enjoyed it.
There's a second group read available and a buddy read as well if you'd like to check those out. :)
Yay :) I'm in for this one
I read this one back in 2019. Entertaining, but ultimately a bit disappointing. I suppose I got my expectations set up to high after reading Stephen King's comments. But, like I said, it is entertaining.
I read this a few years ago, so won't be reading along, but I am looking forward to others comments and thoughts.
Looking forward to reading this with everyone! Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday season and have a great start to the new year. Cheers to many more great reads ahead with HA :)
It looks interesting. Reserving my spot for January.
This is great it’s been at the top of my want to read list and I finally bought myself a copy
Been on my TBR. Looking forward to reading this together.
Sounds great! Count me in!
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Nice! I'm looking forward to reading this to start the new year right, awesome :-)
Did read this not too long ago. So, I probably won't join in January, but l hope you all have fun - I definitely enjoyed my time with the Troop :)
This was meant to be my very first group read back when I dirst joined GR. Well, my copy arrived late and I never touched it since because I know what's in this book and didn't dare to read it alone 😂I guess now or never!
Enjoyed The Deep by Cutter immensely so can't wait to finally read this one with you!
I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy this book. Looks like I have a good reason now!
I'm in. I just went through the fist pages and it looks promising.
ahhh! i rain checked this a few months back because i wasn’t in the mood for it but now that it’s a group read i’m so excited to get to it!
Started last night and I'm about 100 pages in. Liking the style and pace, getting nervous because it feels like shit's about to get weird.
I'm in 😀 Very happy to join the group read 🥳
I read this one a few years ago, but it was a good read.
Woo, yep, things are getting crazy. And kinda gross. What the hell is going on with this Shelley kid? Little man is disturbed. Also, apparently there is going to be a messed up spider scene in every book I read now.
Started this- loving it so far!
Y'all, I can't put this down. It's so good. But I need to force myself to take a break because, ew. I'm not the most seasoned body horror reader.
Sally wrote: "Y'all, I can't put this down. It's so good. But I need to force myself to take a break because, ew. I'm not the most seasoned body horror reader."Yeah, this was an uncomfortable read, but very entertaining. I would classify this as a car wreck book. Driving by, you can't stop looking, even though you really want to!
So far so good, it's a page turner 😎About to start ch. 12.
On chapter 11 methinks Good doctor (and Scoutmaster) Tim (view spoiler)
I just finished this book. It is very well written and disturbing. I personally don't care for the graphic descriptions of animal death and torture but I skipped over those sections in the book.
I have a rare time here with trouble to get started. I love how people love the book and find it disgusting...but now I'm in some sort of limbo, because I like disgusting...but not all disgusting...but I don't want to have it spoiled with details either lmao
I've got about 100 pages to go. I am especially enjoying the interviews, news articles and scientific data sprinkled between chapters. Such a great way to obtain character background and some of the science behind what's happening without interrupting the flow of the story. And the hardest parts to read for me are the animal scenes as well Amanda.
@Anja, I was so nervous to start this one because I had heard a lot of seasoned horror readers say it was really gross and disturbing. Without spoiling anything I will say that the first 100 pages weren't bad and by the time I started getting to some icky parts I was so invested in what was happening that it made the disgusting easier to take. Hope that helps.
Sally wrote: "Woo, yep, things are getting crazy. And kinda gross. What the hell is going on with this Shelley kid? Little man is disturbed. Also, apparently there is going to be a messed up spider scene in ever..."I'm only 50 or so pages in but Shelley definitely gives off strong psychopath vibes. The scene on the hike is hard to read.
Just finished page 114. If you guys do not find the first 100 pages gross then I am in a lot of trouble. But it is very well written.
@Kaley, yeah, Shelley's definitely not my fave of the kids.@Mona, steel yourself moving forward. It's totally worth it to read through the tough parts because the writing and story are so good. Good luck! We're here for you! :)
thanks Sally, it does help : D
Really gross, I love it. Does anybody else see some resemblance with "the ruins" or it's just me because I happened to watch the movie during these holidays ?
Haven't seen that movie yet, will have to check it out.
Giovanni wrote: "Really gross, I love it. Does anybody else see some resemblance with "the ruins" or it's just me because I happened to watch the movie during these holidays ?"They are definitely both examples of "body horror" and that is not for everyone. The Ruins is probably easier for people to tolerate because, and I hate to say this because it sounds just awful, but it is only people dying in "The Ruin."
For people who are triggered by animal abuse and want to know what to avoid in this book and other media please check out the attached website. https://www.doesthedogdie.com/
At first glance, It is little complicated to navigate, but it is crowd sourced, and you can be warned about what is in the book if you dig a little.
I love animals and am always more upset when the animal dies in books and movies, but I am not what would be called squeamish and enjoy a well told body horror/splatterpunk story, so I have never used this website, but am aware of it.
I listened to an audiobook version of this a few years back. I don't even remember the animal abuse, maybe because the humans were taking such a beating!
Giovanni wrote: "Really gross, I love it. Does anybody else see some resemblance with "the ruins" or it's just me because I happened to watch the movie during these holidays ?"yes, absolutely. That is how I described this book, like the Ruins but with worms.
about 45% now...listening to the audiobook. Not sure what I expected, but so far I'm bored and don't think it's overly gross. But I have a feeling the narrator is to blame for my trouble getting my emotions into it, he is very monotonous and robotic, which imo gives some kind of a objective distance I don't fancy
@Anja I have trouble with audiobooks sometimes when they're too monotone. No matter what's happening in the story, their voice puts me right to sleep.
Sally wrote: "@Anja I have trouble with audiobooks sometimes when they're too monotone. No matter what's happening in the story, their voice puts me right to sleep."There are readers I absolutely avoid, and other readers I love so much that I could listen if they read a boring textbook. Audiobooks are definitely an art.
yes me too, it's not only the narration though, but I'm sure it only make my opinion/experience of it worse. But also the details is somehow off imo. not sure how to explain myself...I love detailed stories, but it has to be at the right places and the right details in a suiting context. Here I feel malplacement in more than one level, some details feels forced just to make it nasty, some feels out of place because the perspective is Young teen and the details sounds more like a pocket philosophical foundations from a late 20 yo lol. Some just seems totally out of place due to some urgency in the story which wouldn't call details written but some more context related. I know it's wavy, but I don't see any reason to spoil the story for anyone for this reason :D
in short waaaay to much 'reminded of..' 'looked as if a spider...' etc.
Shelley's a little serial killer in the making, huh?
@Anya, wow, those are come cool insights, I never thought about some of that while I was reading it. I really didn't think about the perspective of a teenager vs. person in their 20's. Possibly because I don't remember my teenage years or my 20's very well. Haha! Your take on it is really interesting to me. I really hope you make it through because I'd love to hear your opinion on the rest.@ Yolanda, yeah, Shelley is messed up for sure!
Just finished, gotta say it was not my favorite read.I don't really care for the mixed in "reports," reminds me a lot of that amusement park book we read last year (didn't like that much, either). It almost seems like cheating? I understand it's a great way to interject more information, but it breaks the rhythm and gives it a very campy feel, in my opinion.
Also not a fan of the body horror. I love Tommyknockers, the eyeball/grape description has stuck with me for years and years, but the gore in this also seemed overly descriptive and a little forced.
I'd probably give it a 4/10 overall.
Edit: just read his acknowledgements where he talks about drawing inspiration from Carrie. I can definitely see the inspiration, also probably why it felt so pressured and campy.
thanks :) I'm a bit more than halfway now, so I'll definitely pull through; not going to have wasted the time and not knowing how it ends after all ;)
@Kaley, it sucks that you didn't enjoy this one much. But it's so interesting to me to hear others thoughts that had a completely different experience reading the same story than I had. Our brains and personality absorb the same words in different ways creating a different level of enjoyment for each of us. So fascinating. I truly hope you love your next read Kaley. Have you chosen what's next?
Horror Aficionados
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nick Cutter (other topics)Nick Cutter (other topics)
Please be careful of spoilers and please preface your post with where you are in the book. Happy reading, Aficionados!