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michaellouisdixon's review
2.0
I had so much trouble feeling any empathy for these characters. It never jelled.
waheela's review
2.0
While I found the first one entertaining I found this one boring and somewhat a repeat of the first story. I probably wouldnt have finished it if not for the lenght.
The author is glossing over so many details regarding the monsters which could have been interesting.
This is NOT a horror/monster book. If you read it with that intention you will get disappointed like me. If you like post apocalyptic human interaction you might like it.
That being said, nothing wrong with the writing style.
The author is glossing over so many details regarding the monsters which could have been interesting.
This is NOT a horror/monster book. If you read it with that intention you will get disappointed like me. If you like post apocalyptic human interaction you might like it.
That being said, nothing wrong with the writing style.
karlakayjenniges's review against another edition
4.0
After reading 'Waiting Out Winter', I dove right into this one.
This continues the story of Nick, Jamie, and their family of survivors.
Still trying to overcome the infestations, there comes a new horde of fear driven arachnid's consisting solely of the creepy eight legged, web producing, beady little eyed, hairy creatures that like to bite.
Moving on from where they have been staying, they come upon other survivors. A lovely group of people minus one. (I don't like you Dennis.) I do love the added characters, as it created a whole new atmosphere in their quest for survival against an oblique world.
Once again I had a super blast reading this sequel! Absolutely loved the very satisfying ending!
This continues the story of Nick, Jamie, and their family of survivors.
Still trying to overcome the infestations, there comes a new horde of fear driven arachnid's consisting solely of the creepy eight legged, web producing, beady little eyed, hairy creatures that like to bite.
Moving on from where they have been staying, they come upon other survivors. A lovely group of people minus one. (I don't like you Dennis.) I do love the added characters, as it created a whole new atmosphere in their quest for survival against an oblique world.
Once again I had a super blast reading this sequel! Absolutely loved the very satisfying ending!
motherhorror's review against another edition
4.0
If I had to choose between a plague of flies or spiders, I would happily endure the flies. I have arachnophobia. It's no joke. A single spider can send me into a full-blown panic attack if it's big enough and hideously ugly.
THE HATCH is a standalone sequel to WAITING OUT WINTER. In WINTER, Nick Kontis and his family barely survived nature's attack on humanity but it wasn't without its loses. An outbreak of deadly infected flies forced people into their homes in order to avoid being infected with disease.
I recommend reading that novella first, but you don't have to--if spiders are more threatening to you and you want to start with this one, you can do that but there are references back to situational horrors from the first book.
Now it's Spring and a new threat has emerged...hatching. Creeping. Crawling.
The interesting thing about Kelli Owen's nature horror is that the real focus in on the people trying to survive. THE HATCH reminded me of THE WALKING DEAD in the way that at some point, the zombies were not as threatening as the other survivors the protagonists encounter. In THE HATCH, the spiders are amassing and they are threatening but people are managing to band together, hunker down and survive.
Where WINTER focused on one family, THE HATCH has our family on the road looking for a safe place --a spider-free zone.
Kelli introduces some new characters to engage with our family--some we can love and some we love to hate. It's my feeling that with the new characters, there was more story/character development required that we just don't get because of the length of the story. WINTER zeroes in on one family surviving and while it felt concise and succinct, I didn't find it lacking.
However, in this story, I needed more time with the new characters. More engagement and situational drama/dialog/relationship.
I did love that Owen gave us a resolved ending. I feel like if she wanted to keep going and shoot for a trilogy, the ending was open enough to do that (I would love that!)
I recommend these two books to horror readers who enjoy character-driven, realistic, emotional nature horror vs. a creature-feature gorefest. I love Kelli Owen's storytelling voice and will continue reading her books in 2020.
THE HATCH is a standalone sequel to WAITING OUT WINTER. In WINTER, Nick Kontis and his family barely survived nature's attack on humanity but it wasn't without its loses. An outbreak of deadly infected flies forced people into their homes in order to avoid being infected with disease.
I recommend reading that novella first, but you don't have to--if spiders are more threatening to you and you want to start with this one, you can do that but there are references back to situational horrors from the first book.
Now it's Spring and a new threat has emerged...hatching. Creeping. Crawling.
The interesting thing about Kelli Owen's nature horror is that the real focus in on the people trying to survive. THE HATCH reminded me of THE WALKING DEAD in the way that at some point, the zombies were not as threatening as the other survivors the protagonists encounter. In THE HATCH, the spiders are amassing and they are threatening but people are managing to band together, hunker down and survive.
Where WINTER focused on one family, THE HATCH has our family on the road looking for a safe place --a spider-free zone.
Kelli introduces some new characters to engage with our family--some we can love and some we love to hate. It's my feeling that with the new characters, there was more story/character development required that we just don't get because of the length of the story. WINTER zeroes in on one family surviving and while it felt concise and succinct, I didn't find it lacking.
However, in this story, I needed more time with the new characters. More engagement and situational drama/dialog/relationship.
I did love that Owen gave us a resolved ending. I feel like if she wanted to keep going and shoot for a trilogy, the ending was open enough to do that (I would love that!)
I recommend these two books to horror readers who enjoy character-driven, realistic, emotional nature horror vs. a creature-feature gorefest. I love Kelli Owen's storytelling voice and will continue reading her books in 2020.
charshorrorcorner's review
4.0
Spiders! I hate them! Yet I couldn't resist reading this sequel to WAITING OUT WINTER. I'm so glad I finally did!
We're following Nick and his band of survivors as the government experiment gone wrong in WINTER, has now morphed into a different problem altogether. As with the best post apocalyptic stories, this tale is more about the survivors than it is about the creatures. And even though there is a metric shit-ton of spiders around, in all of their different shapes, sizes and venomous abilities, we don't see a lot of gory spider action. In fact, we really don't see any-only the after effects. Screw you, Dennis! You got what you deserved!
This is another quiet tale from Kelli Owen that I very much enjoyed and can heartily recommend with two caveats: 1. If you're expecting a lot of creature feature romp & chomp action, you'd probably be happier with something by [a:Hunter Shea|5224760|Hunter Shea|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1478623642p2/5224760.jpg], and 2. you probably should read WAITING OUT WINTER first.
Heartily recommended!
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/2Ovx4Pp
*I bought my copy directly from Kelli and the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival and she was kind enough to sign it for me. That did not affect the honesty of my review.*
We're following Nick and his band of survivors as the government experiment gone wrong in WINTER, has now morphed into a different problem altogether. As with the best post apocalyptic stories, this tale is more about the survivors than it is about the creatures. And even though there is a metric shit-ton of spiders around, in all of their different shapes, sizes and venomous abilities, we don't see a lot of gory spider action. In fact, we really don't see any-only the after effects.
This is another quiet tale from Kelli Owen that I very much enjoyed and can heartily recommend with two caveats: 1. If you're expecting a lot of creature feature romp & chomp action, you'd probably be happier with something by [a:Hunter Shea|5224760|Hunter Shea|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1478623642p2/5224760.jpg], and 2. you probably should read WAITING OUT WINTER first.
Heartily recommended!
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/2Ovx4Pp
*I bought my copy directly from Kelli and the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival and she was kind enough to sign it for me. That did not affect the honesty of my review.*
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