Review: 25 Days: A Novel

25 Days: A Novel by Per Jacobsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a pre-release copy of Per Jacobsen's 25 Days. Below is my honest review.

Well, I'm currently rethinking my annual desire to rent a cabin for Christmas vacation and sit up in the snowy wilderness because Per Jacobsen has demolished the idyllic feeling of said vacation and replaced it with a slasher straight out of horror cinema.

The Grays decide to take a week vacation in a remote cabin up in the snowy mountains in early December. For Adam, it's a chance to reconnect with his wife Beth and strengthen what was slowly starting to unravel. Oh, and a chance to get their kids Abby and Chloe off of their electronics and spend time together as a family. So what's not to love about a cabin nestled in a clearing up in the mountains? It has a barn with fluffy little animals for the girls to play with, and it has a food stock in case a snowstorm traps them up there. It's basically a little slice of heaven for a family getaway. Or at least, it should be... unfortunately, someone has their eye on this little family and starts leaving progressively more violent presents in a stocking nailed to the barn door, and as the days pass like an advent calendar, the Grays start to realize that there's a high chance that they won't make it out alive.

Was it perfect? Nah, there were some trope-y moments and some dislikeable character moments, and there were quite a few suspend-your-disbelief moments. But was it fun? Absolutely - for us, the reader. Not for the Grays... yikes not at all for the Grays.

This would make an excellent movie. Maybe one day it will be!

Recommended for horror/slasher fans and fans of remote isolated settings.

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