If you like folk horror, creepy forests, bizarre cults, and graphic gore, READ THIS.
I experienced The Ritual through audiobook, and I’m actually glad I did. I have ADHD, and Nevill’s writing can be dense and incredibly descriptive, so I don’t know that I personally would’ve gotten through the physical book as easily.
But the imagery?
Fantastic.
This book made the forest feel wrong.
Not “there’s something scary in the woods” wrong.
The woods themselves feel hostile.
And then we get the cult.
Y’all.
These people are WEIRD.
I loved it.
But what stuck with me most was Luke.
By the end, Luke has survived. He’s gotten out. He’s physically escaped everything that happened to him—and yet there’s still this feeling that part of him never really left.
As someone with complex PTSD, that hit me differently.
You can leave the place where something happened to you.
You can survive it.
You can build an entire life afterward.
And sometimes, part of you is still standing in those woods.
Five stars. Absolutely recommend.
Also: I watched the Netflix adaptation afterward.
…read the book.
