Not long ago, I became a mother . It’s been a roller-coaster ride of sleepless nights, sore nips, and a crippling love that is entirely alien. Sure, I love my husband. I love my corgi. But the love for that squishy little person is something else… something animalistic.
I firmly believe that if I’d read The Cabin at the End of the World before entering the dizzying world of parenthood, I would have enjoyed it briefly and moved on. It is a page-turner with sufficient mystery and intrigue to keep any reader engaged and guessing throughout. But balancing this book in my left hand while literally nursing my son meant that it struck a particularly deep chord with me. Timing is everything.
The novel is written from varying points of view, switching between chapters. But it opens through the eyes and voice of Wen, an adorable little girl catching grasshoppers in the tall grass. I was immediately in love with her and deeply invested in her character. And the story only got more engaging from there.
If you’re looking for a bottle-episode book with high stakes, a fast pace, and the threat of apocalyptic annihilation, then look no further.
As to the ending, I understand it’s controversial. A ‘love it or hate it’ kind of ending. As an avid reader of Stephen King, the ending did not rub me the wrong way. I’m used to trusting the author to spit me out and I tend to give the benefit of the doubt that they know where they are going and what they’re doing. And the ending of The Cabin at the End of the World is no different. I knew from those opening pages that Tremblay was going to take my heart and put it through a vice. I was not disappointed.
Four stars
