The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 319

Publisher - Titan Books

Source - Gifted (RAK)

Blurb from Goodreads

Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake, with their closest neighbours more than two miles in either direction.

As Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen but he is young and friendly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologises and tells Wen, "None of what's going to happen is your fault". Three more strangers arrive at the cabin carrying unidentifiable, menacing objects. As Wen sprints inside to warn her parents, Leonard calls out, "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world."

So begins an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are intertwined.


My Review

I went back and forth on this being a 2.5 or a 3 star review. There were things I liked and at least one gasp out loud moment, others I really didn't but the gasper moment tipped it to be a three. Wen is just a kid, out in the garden playing when she meets Leonard, a giant of a man, he seems harmless so she gabs away. When his pals show up Wen gets worried and goes inside to warn her dads and then everything turns. Leonard and co NEED to get inside, they need to talk to Wen's dad's it is a matter of life and death for the whole world. An apocalypse is coming but if Wen's dad's step up to the plate they can save everyone, but saving the world will come at a huge cost.

I had no idea where the book was going to go, is Leonard and his "friends" delusional or are they really there to try and save the world. The book keeps you guessing, even when giving "clues" or "proof" of the end that is to come. The book has a some serious themes, sexuality (Wen has two dads), violence, murder, faith and cause and effect, actions or lack of and consequences.

I think some people will love how the book ends, I really didn't - I get why the author went that way but it is a personal preference and it just wasn't for me. Absolutely worth reading and I did enjoy how the story was set down, this was my first dance with this author, it won't be my last, 3/5.

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