(Posted to Goodreads)
A huge THANK YOU to NetGalley & Christopher Hawkins for my copy in exchange for this review! My copy was unedited and not finalized, so might differ from the released copy.

Downpour was just an “Okay” read for me. As an initial idea on vibe, I would describe this story as feeling very lowkey Stephen King/Jordan Peele/M. Night Shyamalan though sadly not on par. I was vibing with the introduction, but was almost immediately not vibing with the characters and the plotline sort of tanked from there. I think this highly disconnected me to the story and therefore, despite it being a quick read, it took me almost a month to push through it.

Frankly I think part of the disconnect is how shallow every character is. Scott is supposed to be our deepest, most complicated character. However, I’m not very sure who he is outside of his childhood traumatic experience(s) mentioned, and his current issue(s) with his wife/children. His character felt insufferable at times. While his attitude towards his family is justified to a slight degree, his complexes felt unjustified in relation to the few things we knew about him. Both Scott and Dana felt annoying, but since we live inside Scotts head through this story, we get mostly his POV on everything. I was seriously not buying all their drama despite what Dana might have done to deserve it in his eyes. Though honestly, I didn’t blame her for how she treated him. Scott just feels like a man-child. Scott logic is complaining the kids never listen to him, are scared of what he’s doing/how he’s acting, breaking their trust, etc. and then proceeds to not communicate what’s going on, yell at them to not do things with no explanation, and then call them ungrateful (in his head). If that’s how he was meant to come off, we as the reader needed more “in” on it. It wasn’t clear enough by the writing to know if all the characters were supposed to be unlikeable.

Dana’s believability was by far the worst. This was one of those books where I could tell the writer was a male within the first few pages. I kept waiting for something unnecessarily weird situationally to happen with her character with no real in world contextual reason (usually sexual), and for a moment I thought maybe he wasn’t going to fall into that. But he did by chapter 3. Her reasons for creating Drama in the plot were so unbelievable. I do not believe that a mother as attentive as her would ever give a shit about how old her car was or not being able to decorate a house. How superficial is that rational, that she’d create high stakes drama inside her family and jeopardize her relationships? And why does Scott put her on a pedestal all the same? <spoiler> To add to this, tell me why in a million years, she would decide stripping down to nothing in her yard with her kids just inside the living room (with access to windows) is ever something a mother would do? You have a pre-teen son and a 4 year old daughter. You know they’re right on the other side of the wall, listening to you hash your bullshit drama out with your husband, and your go to is to… strip? So that you can fight more about the rain or so we can get Scotts horny internal dialogue about her, yet again? I think it was supposed to be whatever the rain was doing to her, but once again, we as the readers were left in the dark. We have no concept of what the rain does yet, or how quickly people change. It just made it seem like she was being an idiot.</spoiler> It was pretty wild to read and I think I was actually slack jawed. She felt like a completely unrealistic female character, within the context of every other personal aspect attributed to her. What seemed to matter most was how much Scott missed “the old Dana” and being sexually intimate with her. I could see how, after finishing the book, Dana might make that choice. But I spend a long time still reeling from it. There had to be a better way to make it plot relevant, or make it make sense.

Another thing that factors into this unfounded drama is: No one talks to one another. Scott will be like “Rain is bad”, and Dana will immediately shut him down. “It’s just rain!”. And we do this, for 50% of the book or more. Scott has his internal dialogue reasons for not liking the rain, or complaining about something, etc. He’s piecing it together, and the son Jacob is the first to announce how weird it all is and provide actual content as to why. But even so, later in the book, Jacob is fighting to go outside into it despite everyone clearly seeing and knowing what it does. Jacob, of all people in this scene, should be the absolute last person to want to go out there. What is happening? What’s wrong with these people? Why isn’t Scott speaking up? He could have said “Didn’t you see what happened here? What it’s doing? Don’t you see/understand that X, Y, and Z happened because of it?” He never ever rationalizes why he’s doing anything, then gets butthurt when people are fighting him or scared of him. It just a bunch of yelling without any communication. I’ll admit though, he got very paranoid very quickly over no evidence that the storm was anything more than your typical rainstorm. If I was his family, and with his level of communication, I’d probably want to prove him wrong out of spite too. Side note: As stereotypical as Scott is, he didn’t know where to find batteries & thought about asking his wife where they were. If there’s things in the house guys usually know the location of, its tools and batteries. I just had a small chuckle at how unnecessary it was to add.

I eventually started to skim. There was so much stupidity in the way all the characters behaved and interacted with each other. It was frustrating. It made the plot very weak, and I didn’t care what happened to any of them besides maybe the kids, as innocents. There was also too much circulation in thoughts. Sometimes it would be whole pages of internal thoughts Scott was having about the same things he’d just been ruminating on pages before, but with no course of action or external dialogue. It felt like nothing was happening, and I was just reliving the same things I’d already learned about or the 1 childhood trauma from his past. There was nothing else to give weight to anything. Skimming was very efficient and needed often to progress in the actual plot. Nothing seemed lost by doing so.

The ending was hugely disappointing to me. I liked the revelation we got with Scotts main issue (I didn’t see that coming at all). However it felt like it lost its “oomph” in the specific situation he was in. I was confused during Scott and Jacobs argument. It wasn’t well articulated and there was no clarification who held the blame until Scott’s internal dialoguing later. I just plain didn’t like how it all concluded. It felt like I got 0 payoff for sticking around, and all the stupid arguments had no weight/meaning. <spoiler>Scott could have at least tried to do for himself what he did for Tallie. He could have tried literally anything. Maybe a board from his kitchen table? An old door, to sheild himself from the rain? Why in your right mind, after working so hard to preserve everything, would you knowingly attempt that without coverage or a plan for Tallie? What is a 4 year old going to do without you if she does survive? I think the point is that there was no point. That Scott was a troubled man and he couldn't escape his past, and let it eat him alive? Which is a fine concept. It just didn't work here.</spoiler>

So overall, 3 Stars for me. Some will definitely like it and be able to overlook my complaints with it. For me, character believability is huge and it was so hard for me to believe a lot of their reactions to each other and reasons for behaving how they did. It just wasn't realistic. I know, "it's science fiction it doesn't have to be realistic". Yeah, but it has to be understandable behaviors/sequences and it just wasn't. I am glad to have given it a shot but I am also glad to move on lol.

3.5 stars.

I found the idea of this story really intriguing - a family is trapped in their house by dangerous rain that corrodes and mutates everything it touches, and the rain is beginning to leak into the house.

It's a bit of a slow burn to begin with, and, unfortunately, I have to agree with other reviews here that there was a bit too much repetition at certain parts of the story, bringing the pace to a halt at times and breaking the spell of tension. But, when there are moments of action, it really is gripping.

I enjoyed the twists at the end and didn't guess them ahead of time. They felt like a nice way of rounding out the story and tying up some loose ends. I didn't mind that we never really find out what the rain is exactly, or how it got there or why, since the characters we follow never find out either, but I can definitely understand that that might bother some readers who want a little more conclusive ending.

I'm sure I'll think of this book the next time a rainstorm rolls over my house.

Thank you to Christopher Hawkins, Coronis Publishing, and Netgalley for my ARC of the book.

I love a Cursed Weather story and this one didn't disappoint! The body horror was grotesque (in a good way) and really painted a horrific picture. Hawkins really sat with the horrific and tragic scenes and forced the reader to experience them along with the characters, and the weird ending was perfect.

"Downpour" is an exhilarating and tension-filled rollercoaster of a read. With a family of four trapped in their farmhouse amidst a relentless downpour, the story is an intense, claustrophobic, and fast-paced thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put the book down, as I was gripped by the relentless suspense and the family's struggle to survive in the face of nature's fury. If you're looking for a gripping, page-turner that will keep you glued to your seat, "Downpour" is a must-read.

It's raining hard, coming down in buckets, you might say. But there's something unnatural about this rain. It has the power to change people into things you don't want to meet.

A family of four is trapped in their farmhouse while the rain pounds outside. The tension is nearly unbearable as the father struggles with the realization that he may not be able to save his family. This one is intense, claustrophobic, and well paced. You won't want to put it down.

This was super creepy to read, but I enjoyed the storyline. What if that storm you see in the distance wasn't just rain? The MC is relatable in that its a small town, a family farm, and a man stuck in rut of his ways. His marriage is falling apart, his kids are pulling away, and he is losing the one thing that has been constant in his life. Add onto that, a weird storm has appeared that is eating through metal & wood and turning living things into grotesque versions of themselves. I held my breath to see what would happen and I honestly didn't see the twist at the end. It came out of nowhere, but with a delicacy I didn't expect from the story. Definitely a good read for fans of horror.

A strange rain begins to fall and desintergrate very slowly everything it touches and have strange effects on humans and animals.
Those who get caught in the rain transform into volient outbursts and try to trick others out into the rain.

A man tries to save his family from this strange occurance but is that manageable? Some people would consider this as slow paced but it works to build a sense of atmospheric dread which it achieves by the end.

This was a wild ride. It took me a while to get into and was definitely a slow burn. Christopher Hawkins did a great job building tension and unease, and I think that's why it took me so long to read. I was uncomfortable, particularly as I read a lot of it on a rainy day in Illinois. The last 10% will haunt me for a while, it was dark and gave me a lot to think about.
Although it was short the pacing was a bit slow for me. It was hard to care about the characters and I think that's what made it hard to get into. However it worked to bring the gothic tension out.

This one started out a bit slow, but overall, I enjoyed it! Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable. It had an eerie atmosphere to it that led you to constantly question what, exactly, was going on. The slower pace allowed you to start trying to guess where the story was going to go, what exactly was going to happen with the rain as the storm cloud drew nearer and nearer.

I did feel like the story could have been cut shorter a bit. It had a lot of introspection from the MC and a lot of reference to the past. It felt a little bogged down with it at times, but the ending sort of came into play with that.

The ending was not something that I saw coming. There were a few paths I thought the book could take and none of them actually happened.

3,5 stars

I enjoyed this and what made it even better, reading it when it’s cold and torrential rain outside. It made me shiver knowing that I had to let my dog out for a toilet

Thank you to Christopher Hawkins and Netgalley for giving me this e arc

Downpour
Christopher Hawkins
Horror | Sci-Fi

🏡 Generational Trauma
🌎 End of the World
🌾 Small Town/Rural
🛸 Out of This World Creatures

Ratings:
Overall | 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 🥀 
Gore | 🩸🩸🩸
Scare Factor | 👻👻👻👻
Darkness Level | 🖤🖤🖤.5

Review:
*Read as an ARC in paperback and on my Kindle.*

This novel has left me shook in the best ways and easily one of my favorite October reads. Atmospheric and haunting. There were times while I was reading that I really felt I couldn’t go outside because it was raining. The blend of real life terror and supernatural events was well done. It felt like one of King’s earlier novels where the things we fear in every day life is woven into the terror of the plot.

Pacing was perfect. I found myself unable to put the book down once I started. I was kept guessing with every turn of the page and Hawkins did not disappoint. The monsters were eerie without being cheesy. Backstory was presented in small doses without taking away from the present. If you’re looking for something chilling to curl up with on a stormy day, this is a must read.

I wasn’t prepared for that ending either. It took me awhile after I was done reading to really process it. The ending was a surprise, but very fitting to the storyline and mood of the book.

*Possible Spoiler Warning Ahead: Don’t keep reading if you don’t want any plot points to be possibly spoiled.* This novel does contain children and animals. I won’t say what happens, but if you have triggers around either go cautiously.

Mood Board:
https://www.pinterest.com/readashredd/downpour-christopher-hawkins/

Affiliate Links:
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Bookshop | https://bookshop.org/a/96234/9781937346140

How I Rate:
https://readashredd.square.site/s/stories/how-i-review

My thanks to Christopher Hawkins and Netgalley.
This story was almost like a fading memory. Like a dream that you've awoken from, yet have a hazy, foggy memory of.
This was by no means a badly written story. Matter of fact, I was damned near glued to the pages.
Mr. Hawkins can freaking tell a story. That's what I think.
Thing is that almost from the beginning I got a feel for how this story would go. It was dark. With a capital D.
I knew how it would end because it was just one of those stories that impress upon you the inevitability of this world.
Depressing. Terrible. Nightmarish. Utterly fantastic!
Best depressing, may as well just get it over with now, story that I've read in awhile.
Honestly? I'd recommend it, but only if you can handle despair?
My first from this author, and while I'm not looking for anything this depressing again, I'd certainly read one or two more books from Mr. Hawkins.

I really enjoyed this story. It started off a little slow, then blossomed into a tense, fast paced thrill ride. Once I got about 30% in, I became full immersed into the story. Hawkins created such an eerie, thick atmosphere that almost made the air I was actually breathing, feel thicker. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a creepy, immersive read.

nice idea and ending, but too dragged out and with too many slow moments. Stephen King vibes but without the captivating aspect

A rather strange and ominous cloud appears on the horizon and Scott just knows it's more than just a storm coming and as it approaches, the feelings of dread grow and when the rain arrives, the horror begins. Scott is determined to keep his wife and children safe but all does not go to plan and Scott finds himself in an impossible situation.

Written with a growing sense of unease and impending doom and with a small cast of characters, Downpour is a pretty successful debut for this author. I did find it a little repetitive however, it kept my interest until the end ... which I am still trying to process and haven't decided yet whether it was fitting or not!

Overall, a pretty good debut and my thanks go to the author and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Downpour.

Downpour by Christopher Hawkins takes place on a remote farm populated by a small family. Scott and Dana are going through a rough patch in their marriage and they are struggling to come together to raise their two children. It is just a regular day on the farm when Scott notices a strange cloud moving in overhead. The cloud continues to grow and has green lightning flashing through it. It is ominous and as the rain starts to fall, Scott can feel that something isn’t right with this storm. This rain changes everything it touches, eats away at objects, and creates monsters. Trapped inside their crumbling home, this family has to figure out how to survive this storm. Or if they even can survive it. This book is a depressing, hopeless story. It absolutely has horror elements and is an interesting take on character development. For me, it has strong War of the World and the The Mist vibes. Like a even more hopeless combination of the two. I didn’t enjoy a twist that was revealed at the end. It seemed out of place and unnecessary to the story. I found it hard to focus on this read. Pretty early on I felt like there was no chance for this family and it made it hard for me to be invested. I like to feel as if there is some reason for characters to keep fighting, even if it ends badly. This is a 2/5 star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication date October 3rd, 2023. This review will be found on Instagram and Goodreads indefinitely.
Instagram book reviews @CandaceOnline

What words could I use for this book other than fantastic. The thesaurus says great and impressive, And those are good words too. Creepy as can be.

I did enjoy this creepy book until I went to bed and the storm started. I'm not sure if it was the wind, the pounding rain or thinking about the story that kept me awake, I suspect all of the above. The story is genuinely unsettling from the beginning and builds up with each page. I appreciate that it is a well written book but will not read anything else like this for a while - I need my sleep.

Thank you to NetGalley and Christopher Hawkins for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Christopher Hawkins' "Downpour" follows a family in Illinois that becomes trapped in their ramshackle family home while a toxic rain falls just outside. They soon discover that this is happening all over the world and that anyone caught in the toxic downpour (see what I did there) becomes deranged.

I uh. I do not know how I felt about this one. It's short but the way it was written made it seem much longer. I thought it was just a slow-burn but it wasn't even that. It was incredibly slow. Like watching paint dry slow. I didn't find this particularly interesting, scary, or thrilling. I was just bored by it. And then the damn family drama. My god. The main character was so hard for me to buy into; he complained and just whined about his failing marriage like every other paragraph and it was just so boring. I usually find that stuff compelling and emotional but in this book, it just came across as childish and pointless. It doesn't help that the author seemed stuck on particular phrases that he reused MULTIPLE times throughout the book, sometimes on the same page in the same paragraph! I mean, I am genuinely baffled by all of the 4/5 star reviews. Did we even read the same book? It's pretty suspect if I'm being honest...I might also just have standards for what I'm spending my time reading.

Overall, this was a massively disappointing and severely underwhelming read. I'm upset that I spent my limited free time reading this.