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Jun292010
‘YA-10′ BOOK REVIEW: ‘Crawlers’ by Sam Enthoven
by Carolyn • Posted in 10 Fun Days of Young Adult Fiction, 3 Star Reviews, Book Reviews, Corgi YA, Horror, Reviews by Carolyn, Young Adult
Title: Crawlers
Author: Sam Enhoven
Publisher: Corgi (RHCB)
Publication Date: April 2010
ARC: 263 pages
Genre: Horror
Young Adult
Source: Review Copy
Reviewed by: Carolyn
RATING: 6/10 – good
SUMMARY BACK COVER:
Four boys and four girls are on a trip to the theatre. Little do they know that they will never see the play. They’re about to be plunged into a nightmare. Beneath the theatre lies a secret. And now she has been released…
REVIEW:
‘Crawlers‘ is a fun, entertaining YA horror that reads like a teenage horror flick but without the blood and gore. There’s nothing really original here but it’s fast-paced and moves along nicely making it a fairly quick read.
A group of school kids and their teachers are making their way to the Barbican to watch a play. But before they can settle down, strange things begin to happen. Weird looking spider-like creatures are dropping from the ceiling onto people’s necks and then the people change.
Ben, Jasmine and the rest of the group fight for their lives as their teachers succumb to the creatures like all the other adults. They manage to find a room which they barricade, hoping help will come soon. Unfortunately, it doesn’t and they have to find their own way out.
The characters have very distinct voices, but unfortunately have stereo-typical personalities: There’s Samantha the bitchy one, Lauren the crying and hysterical one you just want to slap to shut her up, Ben the hero, Jasmine the beautiful and brave, Robert the victim, Lisa the lame, Hugo the brawn and Josh, the guy who thinks he’s better than everyone else…
There is a certain amount of character development but only in a predictable way, whereby the weaker personalities begin to stand up for themselves and the bullies turn out to be cowards.
The second half of the book has a lot more pace than the first and I enjoyed it the most. It’s quite exciting following the characters as they figure out what the creatures are and how to kill them. There are a few twists in the story and the ending to ‘Crawlers’ is satisfying but anticipated, just as most horror movies are – when you think they’re dead and turn your back to walk away, they come back to life for that one, last surprise…
VERDICT:
I was hoping for a few more thrills and a good dollop of scary, gruesome moments that had my skin crawling *pun intended* as that’s what the cover promises, with it’s image of an alien looking creature. Unfortunately, it didn’t really deliver on the horror front, but even with all its faults I did enjoy ‘Crawlers’, it’s a great diversion from life for a couple of hours, and I’m sure a book 12-14 years olds will devour!
You can find out more about the author here:
5 Comments
The cover freaks me out! Thanks for the review.
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This sounds good and the cover is way creepy!
-Briana
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Great review
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The cover can be made into a film poster – it's uh, gross! I guess it's a great start for a horror book. It's creepy how I just went to the theatre last night too. Great review, I'll try this if I feel like testing my horror metre
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From the cover to the blurb on the back to your review, it reminds me ever so much of an episode of Buffy. 'Bad Eggs', I believe the episode was called.
(I'm a little scared that I know so much about a TV show that aired over 10 years ago…)
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