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The Final Descent (2013)

by Rick Yancey(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1442451556 (ISBN13: 9781442451551)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

series

The Monstrumologist

review 1: First, if you haven't read the previous books, you will probably find this book confusing. Second, there is much more violence (not the monster variety) in this book, plus alcohol and drug usage. Third, spoilers ahead. While the end of the Monstrumologist and Will Henry's journey may be somewhat appropriate, it is unsettling. I felt that the gore and violence in the prior books were redeemed somehow by eloquence, and something greater. That these characters who struggled against each other and looked into dark places shared a love for each other. The characters in the first book were alive with descriptions worthy of Charles Dickens. In this final edition, Will's support of the doctor has turned to suspicion and any love he might have been capable of to bitterness. While... more he goes about calling the Monstrumologist evil, I cannot help but notice that Will is the one who wields the weapon again and again. The Monstrumologist remains the same, but it is Will who is the one descending. Even after all he has done, the Monstrumologist offers protection and a home. And Will repays it with destruction. It is somewhat ironic that, when I read the first book, the Monstrumologist seemed to be the cold one, relying fully on science and reason, while Will contemplated the role God played in this world of monsters. In the end, it is the Monstrumologist who shows feeling while Will has become the cold one, quick to execute judgment without remorse. I had hoped to find that same redeeming quality as the first book, but the eloquent prose of the former was reduced to stream of consciousness ramblings of a diseased mind that lunges back and forth through time in the latter. The other characters of the story have lost color and vibrancy as Will's mind has lost the ability to perceive such things. Lastly, while it may have claimed its victims, it did so passively, and the least threatening aspect of the story was the monster itself, which was demoted to a minor role in this book.
review 2: I'm sadly disappointed with this book. It was clear Will Henry was starting to see a new side of himself in the third book, but this isn't what I expected. I felt there was too much of a jump in Will Henry's development between the third and fourth book. If it explored the coldness Will Henry acquires towards the world a bit more this would have been a great ending. Overall I felt so disconnected from Will Henry, like he was a whole new character, thus why I feel this book was just 'ok'. less

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