Reviews

The Devil's Mountain by Jack Harding

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pauroxas's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Let me start by stating that I have a poor imagination, and I depend on an author's description of the setting to make up for what I lack; but I also have a personal limit to how many details I can store and sort through in my brain. This story had tons of them. I can respect the author's decision of emphasizing architectural details and features to give it a spooky vibe, but page after page of it made me focus too hard on the setting and took me out of the story itself.

There is also the dialogue between the two main characters. It felt awkward and forced. All throughout, I felt like I was babysitting two tweens on their first date (which the author asserted that it certainly wasn't). I didn't get the feeling that I should care for whatever happened to them. I felt nothing.

There was a sudden time jump right before the end, where I was informed of what happened to one of the main characters years after that fateful day. The placement of it was so abrupt, in the middle of a paragraph, that I had to read it again to make sure that I got the timeline right. I wonder if it would have been better to place it somewhere. Maybe at the beginning, so that it can act as a catalyst for a flashback?

This book will probably be consigned to my Read-once-and-never-again pile.

Nevertheless, I want to thank DarkLit Press for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this book.

jomojobo's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

a_j0n_3s's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

bookmaniac_60's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

daiareads's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

alittlemixofvix's review

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3.0

3.5 rounded to 3 stars for Goodreads.
It wasn't a favourite of mine from Jack's stories, but the setting was written really well. The atmosphere just felt eerie and ominous.

The set-up of the location and the relationship was great, I could really picture myself being there. The terror of something lurking on the periphery followed by the panic of Nikki going missing had me on the edge of my seat.

Unfortunately, I then felt that things dropped off - it ended quite abruptly and left me with questions (that I can't add without spoilers). I think the main ending could have been expanded more, plus I'm a bit confused by the very very ending - not sure what that added. I'm also intrigued to know about who else ventured into it's jaws.