Review: The Ritual

3 stars. This is my third Adam Nevill book, and I really adore his premises and ideas. He's creative, original, and dedicated - you can tell he spends a lot of time really considering the head spaces of his characters and wallowing around in them accordingly. I absolutely love the movie adaptation of The Ritual - it's tight, well-designed, and scary - but there's a lot to enjoy and draw from the book as well.

We're dropped into the middle of the forest with four old friends on a hiking trip in the middle of Scandinavia, two of whom are struggling from exertion and injuries. The wilderness expert in the group, Hutch, decides to lead them on a shortcut through an old forest and Luke, our troubled, feeling-left-behind protagonist, reluctantly agrees. It all goes wrong though, really, really wrong - and continues to get worse from there.

One-part wilderness survival story, one-part monster/creature feature, one-part battle against humans wielding ancient magic for nefarious purposes, with maybe a sprinkle of body horror for good measure, this book does indeed feel like several in one, which is characteristic of Nevill. I know some readers take issue with that but I don't know, I can slide from one situation to the next pretty easily. One thing for sure: it's feel-bad horror. It's horror you read with one eye, because you don't want to look but you can't look away. 

Gruesome and descriptive, Nevill is an author that really occupies all of your senses. To read this is almost an exercise in endurance - your stamina will be tested right alongside the characters'. At the same time (and I noticed this in his other books as well), he spends a lot of time focusing on the mindset of suffering. The great intermingling of panic, fear, pain - there are pages dedicated to the mental scrambling that takes place when your body is broken and arguing with your will to survive. 

It's a must-read for horror fans. It broke me out of a bit of a slump... if, like me, you enjoy a bit of Norwegian black metal lore woven in with your forest horror (doesn't everyone??) you'll be satisfied. No shortcuts, please.

The Ritual on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads