The Shuddering

By: Ania Ahlborn

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

They only come when it snows, and nobody ever gets away.

A group of close friends gathers at a secluded cabin in the wintry mountains of Colorado for a final holiday hurrah. Instead, it may be their last stand. First a massive blizzard leaves them marooned. Then the more chilling realization: Something is lurking in the woods, watching them, waiting....

Now a weekend of family, friends, and fun has turned into a test of love and loyalty in the face of inhuman horrors. The only hope for those huddled inside is to fight - tooth and nail, bullet and blade - for their lives. Otherwise, they’ll end up like the monsters’ other victims: bright pools of blood on glittering snow, screams lost in the vast mountains.

©2013 Ania Ahlborn (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Typical Werewolf book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Read one werewolf book, read them all

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The whole story. Werewolf books are all the same. With all the vampire/ werewolf movies that are out at the moment ...

Any additional comments?

Please. Enough with the were wolves and vampires. I used to read them when I was 13.

Things that go bump in the cold night!

The story overall was pretty good. I wasn't drawn in by the characters as much as I was the monsters. Less relationship drama would have made it a better book because a lot of it was superficial. I loved a couple of scenes, but that was due to the monsters cunning. I do recommend the book as a lighter read. Another reviewer described it well by saying it's very much like a summer teen slasher movie. If you like those movies (Friday the 13th especially) you will enjoy this book more than most!

don't listen in the snow

overall I enjoyed the book. the narrator is great. it did get difficult in the beginning trying to remember all the names of people who in the end didn't really matter.

Well-written Creature Feature

The Shuddering delivers exactly what it promises--an exciting creature feature; nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes that's all that is needed for a good story. The characters' drama is present enough without detracting from the main appeal of the story. The antagonists are creepy wendigo-like creatures (that's not much of a spoiler as the reader is introduced to them pretty early in the story) whose origins are kept fittingly obscure for the kind of story this is. The events take place in the mountains of Colorado, and the author did a very good job illustrating the setting in their writing. Every time I slipped my headphones on and played this audiobook, I felt like I was transported into the story.

What a Gem of a Paranormal Horror Book

I must say that I rather enjoyed this audiobook. I’ve reached the point where I felt I’ve read or listened to nearly every horror book written. I love horror and this story helped break up the monotonous paranormal storyline of ghost or demons. The character’s backstory was well explained, explaining the tension, though some information was not really relevant or needed. The narrating also had its cringe worthy moments. The Jersey housewife accent, which was used on most the women, was a bit too over the top. Other than the above, the storyline was great from to finish and kept my interest piqued throughout. I would definitely recommend this book.

Great book!!!

Some reviews have complained about it being to soapy, I didn’t get that at all. Yes, there is some character development, but that is a good thing. Some reviews have said it’s not scary. To that I say, yikes what do you consider scary? I love horror movies and books. While none of them truly scare me, I can recognize a scary movie or book as such. I would call this a scary book. It is also just a good book. It’s well written. It keeps your attention from page one. I couldn’t stop listening. Holy crap Ryan is a bad @$$!! This is a very enjoyable book! Worth a credit for sure! My first Ania Ahlborn and it won’t be my last!

Just OK

I have fallen in love with Ania Ahlborn’s writing but this one was just not it for me. Too much drama. Will still read more by her but this was not my favorite.

Ambivalent

I like the horror elements of this title. Ahlborn has a gift for it.I didn’t even mind the way the story endedf. Because I found the blood shedding that occurred to be satisfying.Now there was also a ‘chick flick’ element of the story that I abhorred. I skipped past those parts of the story and I was still able to get Joy out of the horrors. But I don’t like having to bypass parts of a book that I pay good money for.But this was good enough so that I can live with having to do so.

Decent, had a lot of potential but….

A good “Monsters in the Woods with a group people cut off and trapped in a cabin in the Winter” scenario. It’s been done many times before but this storyline has potential if done right.
The scenario alone made me give this book a chance - and it was on sale.
For the most part the story is good. The buildup is slow. The characters each have intertwined interesting backstories that make the vacation to the cabin and what might happen there interesting in itself. The horror part of the story is slowly inserted. It takes a while for the characters, who are all wrapped up in their own drama to realize something is wrong. Once that happens the horror part of the story takes over.
This part is where the story had some annoying parts.
Once a group of people accepts that Monsters are real and that death is a very real possibility they panic and often make bad choices in the stress of the moment - totally understandable.
This group after some initial loses now know what their up against and luckily they are not in immediate danger yet.
This is the part where they try to figure out how to survive.
Unfortunately this group continues to panic and make ridiculous choices rest of the book. There’s a lot of crying, whining, emotional outbursts, childish behavior and nothing that resembles any plan to try to survive. The characters are young, fit, healthy, and portrayed as smart. They have the strongest of bonds with each other. They are trapped true, but in an extravagant Lodge not an abandoned Cottage. There are plenty of resources to work with to help themselves, they even find a gun.
The Monsters are formidable and numerous but not incredibly bright. Most importantly they are not supernatural - they are flesh and blood and can be killed.
Sadly more mistakes are made. It gets annoying.
That criticism aside the book was better then many adaptions of this plot - just not great. So if you like books with this premise it’s probably worth a try.

Loved the story!!

I really loved the book overall!! It was super chilling and I like how the creatures are described!
The narrator? His voices for women really sucked. Kept pulling me out of the story!