The Laws of the Skies

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 14 May 2019 | Archive Date 30 Jul 2019

Talking about this book? Use #TheLawsOfTheSkies #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project in this very grown-up tale of a camping trip gone horribly awry.
Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive. The Laws of the Skies tells the harrowing story of those days in the woods, of illness and accidents, and a murderous child.
Part fairy tale, part horror film, this macabre fable takes us through the minds of all the members of this doomed party, murderers and murdered alike. 
Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project in this very grown-up tale of a camping trip gone horribly awry.
Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781552453872
PRICE $16.95 (USD)
PAGES 160

Average rating from 33 members


Featured Reviews

What's the darkest thing you can think of?

How about....[spoiler alert]

A book where literally everyone dies!

A camping trip gone bad. Teachers. Students as young as 6.

It's terrifying, it's horrible, it's f*c?ing fantastic.

Was this review helpful?

This is an incredibly messed up, gruesome book! I love it! Even though I had the idea I was getting into a horror novel, I didn’t quite understand the extent of it. Courtois does a hell of a job spinning a bloody, intensely horrifying novel, and Rhonda Mullins’s translation reads extremely well. I’m sure the novel is even more successful in its native language, but personally, I think Mullins does the novel great justice with her translation.

No spoilers, but this is not a happy book at all. For horror lovers, especially those of you who like being shocked as much as you like being scared, you’ll enjoy!

Was this review helpful?

The Laws of the Skies is an engaging re-working of the Lord of the Flies. Courtois weaves the story with panache and well defined characters.

Was this review helpful?

A vicious novella that will leave you reeling. It has all of the terror and abject hopelessness my dark little heart loves.
The horror starts early and doesn't let go, so it is not for the faint of heart. It is as wild and untamed a narrative as the forest in which it takes place.
If you love horror in all of its aspects, this is one to add.

Was this review helpful?

Consider this entire review a Disclaimer:

I'm not giving anything away that isn't in the description when I ask this...

Have you ever read a book where every character dies?

EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. DIES.

Twelve 6 year old classmates and their three chaperones, all dead.

And they die in the worst imaginable ways. This story is dark and disturbing beyond compare. Gory graphic scenes of the death of children...

AND I FUCKING LOVED IT!!!

From start to finish I was captivated by the unfathomable darkness of this little story (only 148 pages on my tablet).

If you're into graphic horror novels then buckle up buttercups, this book is for you.

Aside from the subject matter, Grégoire Courtois is a great writer. It makes the story all the more disturbing because it's written wonderfully.

I would and will read anything this man publishes. Any writer that isn't afraid to take an unflinching high dive off the deep end of an unthinkable cliff is my favorite type and Courtois is a master.


My one and only critique is that a number of the children are characterized much older than the age of six therefore some suspension of disbelief is required and for that reason alone I had to knock this one down a star.

Dammit I don't even know what to read next because anything else is going to be a disappointment.

I received an ARC from Coach House Books in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Gruesome, horrifying, unputdownable.
Would recommend this to those macabre ghouls like me who would enjoy reading a chilling nightmare of children lost in the woods dying in horrible ways

The story is short (about 150 pages), and its brevity allows for the satisfaction of getting to the nitty-gritty without any superfluous fluff. Three adults and twelve six-year-olds are on a weekend camping trip deep in the woods and no one lives. That’s not a spoiler. The author also cleverly inserts some philosophical threads about the perspectives of children and uses narrative intrusion to address the reader and remind him that there is no hope for these poor kids.

To say any more would be a disservice, so if this premise causes you to raise an eyebrow and immediately look it up online, this book is for you. If you recoil and say, “Ew,” then move along.

I am loath to say I enjoyed it for fear it may cause others to think me psychotic, so I’ll just say that it was a riveting read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Coach House Books for the copy in exchange for my review.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: