The GoodBook Club discussion

What did you think of Ezekiel Boone's The Hatching? What were your favourite moments? This discussion is open until July 31, and as always, participants will be gifted with one of our most anticipated titles of the year. Enjoy the discussion!!

I just got a message from my library that the book is available so I'm hoping to get it all read by the weekend.

Went to my library yesterday and put in a request that they order it. Unfortunately, it could take a while so I won't be able to participate in this discussion. I look forward to reading it when I finally get it!

Just picked up a copy, and I'm reading it with a bit of trepidation (spiders terrify me at the best of times). So far, though, I love it, and I think it would make a fantastic movie -- the opening chapters seem almost cinematic.

I really liked the format of this book. I always really like books that have different groups of people that have to come together to solve a crisis. It's one of my favourite movie formats too and this book was very cinematic in its writing.

One of my favourite (yet horrifying) moments was the scene on the plane when Mike Rich discovers the body. It creeped me out so much, but it was really well written!

I love the multiple narratives and various geographical location and the crispness of the prose. It's scary and fresh at the same time.

The airplane scene is one of my favourite scenes in the book along with the lab scene when the hatching takes place.

I bought the book through ibooks and I did enjoy it, but I could clearly see from the start that it was the start of a series and that kind of killed the excitement for me as I knew that the story wouldn't really have a solid conclusion by the end of the book.

I enjoyed some of the character and location switches but some of them I just didn't get the point of but I assume that some of them will start to take a more pivotal role in the next two books.

I did enjoy the Peru chapter but wish there was more - all of those characters seemed like they had a lot more to offer. I also found the description of the hatching in the lab pretty cool.

I've just started reading and so far like what I have read. I was lucky enough to receive a hardcover copy and love the front cover art, it sets the stage for that creepy feeling that you expect the book will reveal. There is a wide range of characters across the continents and I do like how the author is giving little snippets/snapshots as the chapters proceed. These little glimpses are holding my interest and keeping the suspense alive. I hope to finish this is the next few days and will join back into the discussion.

I am totally creeped out by spiders so I was pretty excited to start this book. I thought it was really fun and totally terrifying. I had a few problems with the characters. I think many of them weren't very well developed, but since they pretty well all died quickly it wasn't a big issue. The one thing that bothered me was that the portrayals of women felt a bit sexist. The two most powerful and successful women were both having affairs with inappropriate men. Not that there's an appropriate man to have an affair with. Lol! It felt like a way to take away some of their power by making them unable to control their apparently voracious sexuality. It seemed like a way to diminish them. Despite this, I did really enjoy the book and raced through it in a few days. I'm looking forward to book two!

My favorite scene was when the one spider gets out of the tank in the lab and disappears. I won't tell you where it goes and spoil it but it made my skin crawl!

I really enjoyed this book! It's probably one of my favourite books that we've read so far in this book club! I loved the multiple narratives and quick chapters because it made the book that much harder to put down! Some of the narratives were more interesting than others; Minneapolis, Minnesota with agent Rich and the American University with Melanie were my favourites.
The plane scene was my favourite part of the book as well! For me this is when things really took off and it became hard to put the book down!
I can not wait for Skitter to be released

I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying this as it's outside my usual choice. It's well written and is really holding my interest.

I finished the book and it's probably the best one chosen in the book club so far. And can't wait to read the second book in the series.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. I knew there as going to be killer spiders, but other than that, I didn't really know what I was in for. I don't know if I would really call this horror, but I'm not sure what else I would call it. I think though, this book fits many categories of fiction, horror, apocalyptic, political, sci-fi, etc.

I also enjoyed that it's not character driven. I would say that about 95% of the books I read are character driven, I think that's just because that's how most of the story are told. But this book, while there was a bunch of "side" characters, was driven by plot and really, by the spiders and the fear people generally felt regarding them.

I liked the snippets of peoples lives, glimpses of lives, not in the past, but in the present. When first introduced to these characters, the Boone doesn't talk about what happened 5, 10, 15 years ago in each of their lives. All that matters is right now. Who will escape? Who will survive? And I think that is what adds to the horror, the terror that these people are feeling, and which the reader feels second hand.

If you aren't a fan of loose ends, be warned.

Overall, this book was crazy. It kept me on edge the whole time, and, as someone who is the resident "spider killer," I'm a little more weary of those little eight-legged creatures.

Well I'm tired this morning as i went to bed alittle late as per my normal because i just couldn't put this book down! It was so good. i don't think i would have ever heard about this book let alone actually read it, if it weren't for this book club.

I loved all the different locations and different people in this book and how they all intertwine. I liked the plane crash scene but i loved the hatching and lab scenes. The description was just OMG.

I can't wait for the next one! Thank you to penguin random house for picking such good books every month. I can't wait to see whats next month!

Hey everyone! There's definitely a lot of love for The Hatching (though maybe not for the spiders!) This book definitely reads like a movie, anyone getting Jurassic Park vibes from the book? What's the one scene that had you all on the edge of your seats or cringing horribly? Let us know!

I was on the edge of my seat when Bark was on the operating table. The scene where Julie is running toward Melanie was so climactic! That would be an awesome scene to watch on a movie screen, though probably pretty gross and disturbing given what comes after.

I agree that this is the best book we have read in the book club so far. Quite often with multiple narratives the story suffers. Ezekiel Boone did an expert job at keeping a good flow going with the story. The plane crash scene was described very well. I could vividly picture the entire gory scene.

In my review I wrote it has elements from Jurassic Park as it's realistic, and scientific at the same time. the possibility of it to happen is not impossible.

The scene that stuck with me the most is the airplane crash scene and its aftermath when Mike had to take his daughter to the scene.

I definitely think the opening scene where the tour guide is showing the billionaire guy through the rainforest kept me on edge. At that point, I didn't know Boone wasn't going to mess around with killing someone off, he had no mercy! You would get one perspective and by the end of it, that person was dead! It was a real shock.

The scene that made me cringe was when Henderson was on his flight home and the spiders where inside him and then started bursting out. That is my nightmare! Man eating spiders are bad enough but when they start laying eggs inside people it's even more terrifying!

As I was reading this it I realized it had a tv miniseries feel to it, I'm thinking of the really creepy ones that used to be on in the late 80s early 90s ( like The Stand) so many different places and ppl that eventually come together (although not in this book).
I think the hospital scene with the students & Melanie was the scene that I found most gripping, you know something bad is going to happen but you just have to keep reading to find out.

I've just finished the book and am surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It really held my interest. I liked the different "sets" of characters and the storyline was fascinating and creepy. I look forward to more from this author.

Just finished the book today and am already feeling withdrawal, "Skitter" cannot be published soon enough. I was cringing when they were operating on Bark, envisioning the spiders and sticky webs throughout his body, nasty! I was also reading with trepidation when Andy Anderson was out walking his dog, I simply did not want to see something untoward happen to either of them. There are truly too many scenes that held my suspense with huge creep factor. I felt physically ill in several spots (the plane scene was one), the writing is definitely descriptive!

I'm only halfway through at this point. I thought I would be able to read right through it this weekend but that didn't happen. Snakes are my phobia, not spiders so it's not really giving me the willies or anything like that.

Every time I read a reference to zombies, the story loses credibility for me. And I agree with Susan that some of the female portrayals do feel sexist. So far at any rate, it reads like a grade B movie.

Penguin Random House Canada wrote: "What's the one scene that had you all on the edge of your seats or cringing horribly?s..."

The one part that had me cringing was when Henderson pulled a spider out of his nose. Ew.

I liked the snippets of unusual events noticed in different locations that connect to a global threat. It reminded me of some of Michael Crichton’s books. The way that the spiders did not act as the scientists expected did have a Jurassic Park vibe.

I thought the opening in the jungle was good. I can’t wait to find out what happens to the characters that we met in this book. I especially liked the Scottish location/characters.

The scene that had me on the edge of my seat was the ship coming into land

Agree with Susan and Louise - I was bothered by the portrayals of women early on.

A lot of you are mentioning the plane scene being the most cringe-worthy, and there are no arguments here. It was awful!! Although, the lab scene definitely deserves it's place as runner-up! Do you feel that the true horror of the book comes from nature taking back the Earth or the simply spiders themselves?

I think it's a combination of everything. Some of the horror comes from the uncertainty of the ending of some of the characters

I think the true horror is actually the unknown. The fact that the humans in the book do not know what the spiders are capable of and how to stop them from destroying mankind. I am always freaked out by spiders, have been since I was a young child. This just adds to the fear factor throughout the book for me.

I agree with Wanda. The horror aspect for me wasn't around the spiders but around the fact that people didn't know how to kill them or why they were behaving the way they were.

I think the horror comes from the spiders and nature, not knowing what makes the spiders do what they do, and they fact that there are so many of them moving together as a group.

I think it's the fear of the spiders themselves. The blanket of spiders coming like a wave, the noise they make and how they move. Also they eat people like piranhas on land!

For me personally, like Wanda and a few others haven mentioned, the fear I felt came from the unknown. Not just, ok, what are these creatures, what are they capable of, but when it got to the point where a scientist, who has been studying spiders for years, has no idea HOW to stop them. That is the ultimate unknown. China bombed itself, and that didn't contain them. Whether or not you are afraid of spiders, everyone is afraid of things they cannot control, and I think people are doubly afraid of killer spiders they cannot control!

I've just picked it up and I'm a third done so far. I'm not scared of spiders but I've got to admit that it's a creepy story so far. I agree on that plane scene! I think there are a few too many perspectives for me, but it really does emphasize that strange things are happening on a worldwide scale. I wish it wasn't a series because it seems like things are just getting started and I already know there is unlikely to be a satisfying conclusion for me but definitely curious to see where things go!

I think the fear is from loss of control. It's when the spiders (or anything else for that matter) are out of control, and/or can no longer be contained, that fear and panic sets in.

I am not scared of spiders but some scenes really creeped me out but I loved it :)

I finished it up and I really enjoyed it although I think the ending wasn't totally satisfying but I guess that is the risk with a series. I did think that there wasn't nearly as much gruesome spider things as I expected (although I agree on the plane scene). The spiders are definitely more of a symbol for the loss of control, and what panic comes along with that.

I still have 70 pages to go. I like the pace of the story but it's not a book I would actually recommend to anyone unless you're only looking to be grossed out, which I suppose is the point of horror. The characters are all shallow, and nothing really differentiates any of them. They even talk the same way. But maybe that's the point so that you don't really care when they get killed off. It seems more formulaic than a good story. Again I can't help but think of a late night grade B movie.

Although I haven't read this book yet, I've decided to do so within the next few months. After reading all the comments, I've also decided to read only during daylight hours and then keep my lights on all night!
This discussion site is absolutely amazing! Thanks.

I have a feeling that this book would totally be made into a movie .. What do you all think?

Ammar wrote: "I have a feeling that this book would totally be made into a movie .. What do you all think?"

Yes, it seems more like movie fodder than good reading.

I finished it last night and felt the ending was a ploy to sell the next book which I won't buy (and am glad I didn't buy the first one either). There was no character development so I have no desire to find out what happens to anyone. The characters were too generic. Even the women were written as if they were men, and everyone had a similar voice. No distinction. Just spider gore.

Just finished reading this book and it was completely amazing. I got it as an arc a few months ago and I'm glad I did, I've never read a book before from this author but boy am I glad I did. This was absolutely one to add to books I'd recommend my friends read. I have a huge fear of spiders but this was exactly my favorite kind of creepy.

On another note I participated in last months book discussion but I never received my free book after, who would I talk to about that?

Yeah definitely felt like it was ready to be a movie...although you'd need to combine it with the next book(s) probably because that ending...Ugh. I enjoyed the book but even a couple days later a little annoyed by that!

I guess we all agree than the ending wasn't the best probably for the second book to pick up ... Or merely a marketing tool to sell the 2nd and perhaps the third book if it's a trilogy

Ammar wrote: "I guess we all agree than the ending wasn't the best probably for the second book to pick up ... Or merely a marketing tool to sell the 2nd and perhaps the third book if it's a trilogy"

That's how I see it, as a marketing tool, which is a complete turn off.

Ammar wrote: "I guess we all agree than the ending wasn't the best probably for the second book to pick up ... Or merely a marketing tool to sell the 2nd and perhaps the third book if it's a trilogy"

I am with you on that! I believe it is a trilogy so the next book will likely have a similar end situation.

Louise wrote: "There was no character development so I have no desire to find out what happens to anyone. The characters were too generic. Even the women were written as if they were men, and everyone had a similar voice. No distinction. Just spider gore. "

Yes! You totally put your finger on the problem. The women are absolutely written as if they were men. I think the author did a pretty poor job with character development in general but the female characters were especially poorly done. That said, I will be picking up the next book for more spider gore! :) With this type of story I don't expect great writing skills, just a fun ride!

In regards to the lack of character development, I didn't really find that to be a major issue. This book wasn't about the characters. It was about the plot and keeping the reader on edge. I'll agree that the perspectives did blur but I didn't think that took away from the story. If anything it made me relate more, because this terrifying thing was happening to everyone, men and women, tour guides and billionaires, no one was safe. I think the multiple perspectives helped reiterate the fact that it could happen to anyone and the story wasn't about each individual person, but rather what could happen to society as a whole in the event of some sort of disaster such as this one.

I'm looking forward to a sequel, and more, but my hope is that's it's not about snakes. If so I couldn't even open the book!

That's a wrap! Thanks to everyone who participated in this discussion. And please keep in mind that the sequel to The Hatching, Skitter, is set to release next year!

As always we have a great gift for all those that took time out of their day to share their opinions, insights and chat to other members. Please inbox Penguin Random House Canada with your mailing address and we'll send over your book ASAP. Thanks again and happy reading!

Cheers,
Fatuma