YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. A place of dark ritual and home to a bestial presence that is still present in the ancient forest, and now they’re the prey.

As the four friends struggle toward salvation they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees...

I'm hoping to start this one later tonight or tomorrow :)

First quarter - (view spoiler)[I'm not saying these are the authors views, but I have no idea why so many mentions of body shaming and sexism are included. I dislike every one of these men. I also don't know why they are acting like all of Phil's problems stem from his 'nuts' wife, Michelle. They site an eating disorder as one of the reasons why she is hard to deal with, which is totally unacceptable. I only hope the author has chosen to make these back-stabbing and judgemental so called friends have been crafted in such an unlikable way for a future purpose. (hide spoiler)]

Second quarter - (view spoiler)[The church in the middle of the forest was such an eerie find and then, to top it all off, there were human remains detected in the graveyard! I still dislike all of these characters (although Hutch and Phil didn't deserve to die like that) but the atmosphere is so intense, and I'm loving it. (hide spoiler)]

Third quarter - (view spoiler)[The scene where he thought Luke was walking behind him was terrifying! As soon as the stench was mentioned I knew it was one of the creatures stalking him and not his friend at all. I was bracing myself for an attack! Following this, everything I thought was occurring was altered. (hide spoiler)]

Fourth quarter - (view spoiler)[Things got seriously crazy within the last 40% of the book! I thought this was going to be a supernatural read, and then a monstrous one, and then it turned into... well, I don't really know what. I couldn't stop reading it, though. I wished I liked the characters more as they really let this whole thing down for me. (hide spoiler)]