Journal Entry 1 by leeny37 from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Sunday, April 26, 2009

Received through BookMooch.com.

From Amazon.com:
Two American couples just out of college head to Mexico for a sun- and tequila-filled vacation. They befriend some like-minded Greek tourists and a German man whose brother has followed an archaeologist to the site of her dig. The Americans and one of the Greeks decide to go into the jungle to help Matthias find his brother. Blissfully ignorant, they head off with minimal rations, but lots of tequila. Despite all warning signs, they continue to a desolate Mayan village whose residents seem intent on keeping them away. Once American Amy steps off the path into a patch of vines, things suddenly change. As in A Simple Plan (Knopf, 1993), Smith creates a gripping story in which each character's uncertainties and human frailties are as horrific as the actual horror around them. Though the story is told in the third person, each American spends time as a protagonist, giving readers an understanding of his or her fears and motivations. This also allows readers to second-guess the characters. The book has no chapter breaks, which echoes the long and dreadful adventure. Even though only a few days pass, it feels much longer, as the plot moves minute-by-minute through each day. The ending is highly satisfactory and perfectly tragic. Though there are some brief scenes of gore, most of the suspense is psychological, but no less frightening. Fans of everything from Jurassic Park to Lost to Stephen King will love this book. 

Journal Entry 2 by leeny37 from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Tuesday, June 02, 2009

It's kinda sad but I'm an absolute sucker for horror movies, even though I get completely terrified. Why I torture myself, I have no idea. I read a review about the movie, The Ruins (which I haven't seen), and found out that it was based on a book. I do enjoy a good horror read too so I decided to look for this book on BookMooch.com. I took this along with me on my honeymoon in May and I finished reading this on the flight to Bali. I won't give it the same kind of lavish praise that Stephen King did, but The Ruins is a decent horror novel. It was sufficiently creepy with plenty of WTF moments and a constant growing sense of doom and despair. Sure, the story was riddled with plot holes like a slice of Swiss cheese, but once it picked up pace, all of that was inconsequential and it was hard to pull away from the tale. I would have preferred it if at least one of the characters found a way to beat the vines and escape (just one happy moment, please!) but I guess the tragic ending really reinforces the utter bleakness of the situation, which is probably what the author was aiming for. The film is certified fresh on RottenTomatoes.com so I'm looking forward to see how it compares against the novel. 

Journal Entry 3 by leeny37 at Southbank, Victoria Australia on Saturday, December 05, 2009

Released 2 yrs ago (12/5/2009 UTC) at Southbank, Victoria Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I brought this with me to Xmas brunch meet-up at Walter's Wine Bar. 

Journal Entry 4 by puppymummy from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Sunday, December 06, 2009

Picked up at the brunch meetup this morning. Leeny, did you just write a spoiler??????? 

Journal Entry 5 by puppymummy from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Sunday, May 16, 2010

Luckily I'd forgotten the spoiler by the time I read this book! I thought it was only OK, I started skim-reading by the end because I didn't feel any of the suspense and was quite revolted by the gore of it all. I think it could have been done in about half the pages allocated.