Alex Cabe reviewed The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Entertaining but Ultimately Pretty Average
3 stars
An entertaining read that was fun and went quick, but didn't break a lot of new ground for me.
I can't help but compare this to the movie (which was also pretty average) and ultimately think the choices the movie made worked better. Leonard's personality also came through much more in the film.
The prose showed occasional flashes, but was ultimately pretty straightforward. The author tried some innovative things with point of view, including narrating the last chapter in third person plural, but I don't think they really paid off in a significant way.
I enjoyed the writers notes at the end about particular symbols and the writer's process, and I wish more books would do that.
If this were a Stephen King book, it would be in about the 40th percentile of Stephen King books.
