Review: The Watchers

3 stars. Hmmmmmm. Loved the premise, enjoyed the spooky thrills, but I have to say I'm disappointed! What could've felt like a literary/folklore-inspired episode of The Twilight Zone instead kind of plodded along - I skimmed almost the entire second half. With complete respect for the set-up, the twist, and the incredible monsters, this story would've really benefited from being shaved down. Way down.

After promising to complete a ridiculous errand for a drunk friend, Mina is driving through an isolated part of Ireland when her car breaks down. She ventures into the woods, only to be trapped there in a terrifyingly constructed bunker with three other trapped travelers. When the sun goes down, the watchers come out, and only through desperation strict rules can the group hope to survive.

I can't not mention the bird. Couldn't care less about the human characters, but one of the reasons I started skimming was to avoid being triggered by an unnecessary animal death. Like a few other details, though, the bird actually did seem a bit useless from a narrative perspective, other than to increase the heart rates of readers like me. Which is... cheap.

I loved the twist, but the ending was very meh. I could sort of see where things were going and the final line didn't quite reach the mic drop level of epicness it was clearly trying very, very hard to achieve. Still, this wasn't a bad time. I don't regret reading it. Fans of Irish folklore will love it. I bet an adaptation could take things up a notch! 

The Watchers on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads