I think it's about time that I accept that Ania Ahlborn's books just aren't very exciting for me. This is the third book of hers that I've read, and I think I've given each one 3-3.5 stars because, while she's great at writing characters, all three of the books have just bored me. 😩 I still plan on trying the other books of hers that I own, but I don't have high hopes at this point.

The Shuddering had potential to be a great read for me: it follows a group of characters essentially stranded in a snowstorm, surrounded by man-eating monsters, and honestly, I'm a big sucker for that sort of thing. Combining the supernatural element of inhuman creatures with the danger of real-life survival? Sign me up!

But this story just dragged because the vast majority of it was about the relationships and drama between these characters, and even when there were action scenes, I was left wanting more. I couldn't bring myself to root for any of the characters because I simply did not care about any of them. Had The Shuddering been a movie, it would've been that film I started playing on my phone 30 minutes into because I wanted to see how it all played out, but I didn't want to invest any real attention to it.

I should also say that the audiobook made this a less enjoyable experience for me; I'm being generous by bumping it up a star because it isn't the author's fault that the narrator did a terrible job, but his voices for the women characters all made them sound like horrible whiny children. Then again, the writing itself also kind of made all of the women out to be horrible whiny children, so...

If you're looking for a good snowy horror read, there are a ton out there that are way more exciting than this. I don't recommend it and kind of wish I could get my time back.