Cabin at the end of the world by Paul Tremblay

Imagine that you’re vacationing with your family and suddenly, four creepy strangers carrying rudimentary weapons wander up to your remote cabin and tell you that the world will end unless you kill a member of your family.

What a concept! Paul Tremblay delivers with Cabin at the end of the World. Book reviews are a dime a dozen from wannabe writers, but damn it, this was a great book! So, here’s my review…

I rate it 24 out of a possible 25. (see My Book Reviews for rating explanation)

The premise: Four strangers invade a vacationing family at a remote cabin. A couple and their adopted daughter encounter a terrifying proposition – sacrifice a member of your family or the world will end. The family reacts as you would expect; they lock the doors, they try to escape, they seek ways to kill the intruders. The suspense builds into a living, breathing thing! The couple, Eric and Andrew, focus on protecting their daughter, Wen, while trying desperately to fend off these strangers. And to make things even more mystifying… the strangers appear to be normal people who do not want to be there. At first, the strangers’ claim of the looming apocalypse seems absurd, but as the story unfolds, we’re not so sure.

After reading Cabin at the end of the World, I transitioned from a “fan of Paul Tremblay” to a “HUGE fan of Paul Tremblay!” I just purchased Growing Things and I’m super-stoked about Survivor Song coming out in July of 2020 (assuming Coronavirus doesn’t derail things). I predict Survivor Song will explode as an apocalyptic masterpiece to spawn movies, shows, etc.

Okay, let’s get back to Cabin at the end of the World! (henceforth, just called Cabin)

I’d heard several complaints about Cabin before reading it:

·      The paragraphs were too long.

·      It was too slow.

·      It’s about a gay couple.

·      The ending was terrible.

But folks, I declare these critics incorrect! (hey, it’s my blog, I can declare whatever the hell I want)

I’ll address these items one by one.

·      Long paragraphs: Yes, there were some long paragraphs. Did there need to be? I don’t know, I didn’t write it. Long paragraphs didn’t take away from the story. I suppose a few could’ve been broken up, but I really didn’t care. Tremblay’s writing is compelling and precise, which made the reading fun.

·      Too slow: I felt the pace was perfect. The story kept moving forward and Tremblay sprinkled in the right amount of character development so I could connect and understand why different characters made the choices they did. To me, that’s everything.

·      It’s about a gay couple: No, actually, it’s not. It’s about a family in crisis. The characters happen to be gay. I totally get that this can be a touchy subject for some. Others could give a shit less. I suppose it can be touchy for me if the author’s intent is to promote their own personal agenda. But it wasn’t. Again, Tremblay told the story, the characters were who they are and it was totally believable. There was not a single moral hint or advocation either way. Just people. At the end of the day, just people is what we all are and I wish more people could accept that.

·      Terrible ending: Of all of the critiques, this is the one I heard most. I braced for it. I anticipated that I might not like it. I even put off reading it for a couple of months and finally had to admit that I was letting the hype get to me. So I read it. And loved it! I’m baffled that so many people didn’t like it. My opinion – it could not have ended any other way.

Here are my ratings on Cabin at the end of the World.

Craft (5) – Paul Tremblay has proven to be a master of the craft to the level of Stephen King, which is such a refreshing find. I covered much of the writing brilliance above, so I’ll keep it short here. I believe Tremblay is one of the best dialogue writers out there right now. There are dialogue scenes from Cabin and even from A Head Full Of Ghosts that remain clear in my mind to this day, like images from a dream that won’t fade.

Pace (5) – As I mentioned (and elaborated) above, I loved the pace.

Characters (4) – You’ve heard me say this before; the greatest character connection for me is when I fall in love with a character. It’s the most amazing experience. Tremblay’s characters are well-developed and I related to their fear, to their need to protect Wen (their adopted daughter), and to their desperation. I felt it. That said, I was not able to fall in love with them since there was no one to fall in love with.

Story (5) – I’ve elaborated a great deal about the story within this article, so you’ve concluded that I enjoyed it. It’s my kind of story. Without a doubt, Tremblay is a master storyteller. Seriously. For me, Paul Tremblay is at a level where if he writes a book, it’s going to be good, simply because he wrote it.

Ending (5) – See my note above about the ending. I won’t drone on here, but the ending was inevitable. Poignant, yes, but inevitable.

If you’re looking for a suspenseful story, well-told, and prompting thought, don’t miss Cabin at the end of the World. Nothing beats a suspense novel where you’re constantly on edge.

My recommendation is to get this one!

Feel free to leave your thoughts. As always, I’d love to hear them. And I hope you enjoy Cabin at the end of the World!

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