The Cabin at the End of the World

Author: Paul Tremblay
Pages 288
Genre: Thriller mystery
First Published: June 2018
Book description (from Good Reads):
Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake. Their closest neighbors are more than two miles in either direction along a rutted dirt road.
One afternoon, 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, friendly, and he wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologizes and tells Wen, "None of what’s going to happen is your fault". Three more strangers then 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."

• Characters: 9.0
• Wen is a very sweet child, very trusting of others, just like any kid she likes to make friends. You love her pretty soon. She has issues about her heritage, her biological parents questions that her fathers can't always answer. She comes through as very realistic. She is also not good at responding to scary situations and lacks the ability to decide what to do unless her parents actually tell her what to do and even then she is not always as compliant as the parents would like. Again she is too small to be expected to react well to the kind of situation they faced.
• Andrew and Eric come across as a regular couple, one is the hovering parent and has tendencies to see the very worst case scenario at least, child-related, while the other is more laid back and even makes fun of the other's paranoia. When faced with the strangers they each try to protect themselves and their family initially they work with the assumption that the strangers are just passing by. They try to deny for far too long that there is an actual danger to face. You know human nature to accept the bad stuff.
• Leonard and his three friends are portrayed very realistically, they do seem to believe what they are saying and contrary to what their actions are implying they do not want to harm anyone. They simply are religious extremist n the oddest way possible.
• Plot: 9.0
• The way the story pace is a bit slow and full of anxiety as you don't really know for sure what the strangers want with the family. And as more they reveal more confused you are. The way things are the reader cannot know for sure what to believe, are the strangers telling the truth? Are they simply insane angry killers? 
• The way they try to convince the couple of what they have to do to save the world; the stretches they decide to take in order to accomplish their mission it is insane and yet so realistic. 
• The one thing I do not really like was the ending, it was left hopeful but it did not actually answer all the questions that arise during the story. 
• Logic: 9.5
• The kidnappers, unfortunately, have a very good reasoning going on for them. They have a good reason and they seem to actually believe what they are saying no matter how crazy it might sound. Each of them validates their story enough to convince the others of their rightfulness. And even when one of them starts to question their actions, that is done so realistically.
• The reaction Wen has, it is very logical, she is just a kid. You can't expect her to take the best decisions ever and she could really just read her parents minds.
• Eric and Andrew react very well compared to the situation they are facing.
• Writing Style: 9.0
• It is presented quite well, the story is capturing and easy to read. I have not read anything else from this author but I definitely will look for more of his work. 
• Intrigue 8.5
• The fact that most of the story you're trying to guess what the real intention is of the strangers, it can be nerve-wracking depending on how much you get into the reading and it can become your drive to finish it as soon as you can. Proof: you can start and finish it the very same day even if you have an 8-hour shift to go to. 
• Enjoyment: 9.0
• I loved it even if it was making extremely anxious while I was reading it. I got so into the book that I felt the things they were going through so real, I actually worried so much for the family that was trapped and then to top it off as you discover more about the crazy kidnappers you start to see them through a different light. 
• Intention: 8.5
• So the lesson we have here the most obvious yes when you tell kids to not talk to strangers, yeah please make sure they do believe you.
• Going online to feel connected with others, that needs to be done with certain caution. Not always finding people who validate what you are going through might escalate. 
• Even if you are not very religious it is in human nature to believe in a higher power, hard thing to do is when to identify the religious belief and not fall into the extremes. 

Total Score: 62.5

Average: 8.9

Start Rating: 4.5

Used to accomplish challenges:

#Lalathon this is the third book, I only one more to finish for this Readathon.