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marobbins's review against another edition
4.0
One of my students gave me this book when she was done reading it because she knows that I love Riverdale and am a bit of a pop culture junkie. :) That was thoughtful of her. I decided that it looked like a fun late spring/summer read, and it was just that. It gives more insight into what went on in the lives of Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica right before the summer when everything hit the fan for the Blossom family. This book is essentially fanfiction that hit the shelves, and it was solid overall. I really liked Jughead's and Archie's POV's in particular and thought they were well in keeping with their characters on the show. I thought Betty's voice was solid, although I would have liked more insight into her dark side. Veronica's seemed a bit exaggerated for my taste. I know she was supposed to be a mean girl diva before she came to Riverdale, knocked down by her father's downfall. But even at this point, I wanted her character to have more redeeming qualities. She reminded me of Cordy from Buffy, only before Cordy moved to LA and had to grow up. It struck me, reading this prequel, how similar their characters are in some ways. They are both essentially diva rich girls who become more likable once they have more life experience and grow up a bit, although I did like Cordy's character in Angel more than I like Veronica's character in Riverdale.
Overall, this was fun to read. I thought Fred Andrews's character came across well, and that was a great tribute (although probably not intended when it was written) to one of my first tween girl crushes, Luke Perry, Rest in Peace. If you enjoy Riverdale, I'd recommend this book.
Overall, this was fun to read. I thought Fred Andrews's character came across well, and that was a great tribute (although probably not intended when it was written) to one of my first tween girl crushes, Luke Perry, Rest in Peace. If you enjoy Riverdale, I'd recommend this book.
boomarth's review against another edition
4.0
actual rating: 3.75 stars
I kinda enjoyed this, not gonna lie. But what you do have to know is that I am in no way a fan of the Riverdale Serie. I watch it purely to kinda laugh at it (which I know is mean, but sue me!) so this review comes from a person who wanted to read this book, because I thought it would be a great laugh.
And I laughed, a lot. I do wanna say that the writing of this book was really good, and the characters were really well brought over from the serie. I actually enjoyed this and flew through it (it took me 9 days, but I only listened to it on audio, so for my personal audio speed that's really good.)
I enjoyed Betty's 'life' the most! She was really interesting and I liked her narrator. Now that I'm talking about narration, the audiobook is a full cast, which I really really really enjoyed, it just adds so much more to the listening experience!
I also like the plot and storyline even though I already knew how it was going to end I was still really intrigued.
I am going to be continuing with the book serie. I did kinda like the first season of riverdale, but in my opinion everything went to a clownshow in season three, so I'm really interested to see how Ostow handles that and what comes out of it.
I kinda enjoyed this, not gonna lie. But what you do have to know is that I am in no way a fan of the Riverdale Serie. I watch it purely to kinda laugh at it (which I know is mean, but sue me!) so this review comes from a person who wanted to read this book, because I thought it would be a great laugh.
And I laughed, a lot. I do wanna say that the writing of this book was really good, and the characters were really well brought over from the serie. I actually enjoyed this and flew through it (it took me 9 days, but I only listened to it on audio, so for my personal audio speed that's really good.)
I enjoyed Betty's 'life' the most! She was really interesting and I liked her narrator. Now that I'm talking about narration, the audiobook is a full cast, which I really really really enjoyed, it just adds so much more to the listening experience!
I also like the plot and storyline even though I already knew how it was going to end I was still really intrigued.
I am going to be continuing with the book serie. I did kinda like the first season of riverdale, but in my opinion everything went to a clownshow in season three, so I'm really interested to see how Ostow handles that and what comes out of it.
isobel_shobs's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
danasiler's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t lie…I’m a huge fan of the show. I know, I know. I’m an adult lol. But I love it. I got the book a while ago and read the first 3 in the series. Although you probably don’t need to reread them to continue the series I decided to give it another go. It was just as I remembered, fun to be with characters you love, but the book was nothing exciting. However, my love for the show will make me carry on.
lyriid's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed this at first, I felt each character had a unique voice and I was interested to get more of an insight into their thoughts.
However as the book went on it felt like it was just dragged out and nothing really happened (and it's been a while since I've watched the first season but I'm pretty sure some details were changed?)
Finding out Ms Grundy was sleeping with Ben too made me dislike her character even more and it was fun seeing the texts between different characters. A book about the lesser shown characters on riverdale might have been more interesting but I suppose they believed the core four sell better.
The writing was pretty average and easy to read and as I mentioned before I appreciated the differences in each characters POV, jugheads being very sad (you can see why he's so angry about everything in the first season.) Archie and Veronica's were OK but Betty's story just ended in the middle of nowhere, which was frustrating. Also the author attempt to add in Betty's 'darkness' just came across as awkward and ooc to me.
I unfortunately would not recommend this book and I feel it would not stand alone on it's own merit, you definitely have to be a fan of the show to get any enjoyment out of it.
However as the book went on it felt like it was just dragged out and nothing really happened (and it's been a while since I've watched the first season but I'm pretty sure some details were changed?)
Finding out Ms Grundy was sleeping with Ben too made me dislike her character even more and it was fun seeing the texts between different characters. A book about the lesser shown characters on riverdale might have been more interesting but I suppose they believed the core four sell better.
The writing was pretty average and easy to read and as I mentioned before I appreciated the differences in each characters POV, jugheads being very sad (you can see why he's so angry about everything in the first season.) Archie and Veronica's were OK but Betty's story just ended in the middle of nowhere, which was frustrating. Also the author attempt to add in Betty's 'darkness' just came across as awkward and ooc to me.
I unfortunately would not recommend this book and I feel it would not stand alone on it's own merit, you definitely have to be a fan of the show to get any enjoyment out of it.
genieinanovel's review against another edition
3.0
The Day Before covers just that in this prequel to the popular show, Riverdale. I love the show, though I’m way behind and haven’t watched past Season 2. When I was reminded that this book (and more) existed, I restarted the show and picked up a couple of the books from a nearby library.
So in this book it follows the main characters – Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica – the day before July 4th, when Jason Blossom disappears and is proclaimed dead by drowning. Betty is in LA for her internship and Veronica is still living in NYC, not knowing that her dad is about to be arrested. Meanwhile, Archie and Jughead are on the outs because Archie has been preoccupied. But through their points of view we find out how some of these characters got to the place they were before the show.
What I liked about the book is that you can hear the character’s voices, and you can tell who it is when reading. None of the characters deviated from their TV counterparts, though Veronica is more spoiled and bratty, but she admits that’s how she was right at the beginning of the show, so it’s not really off for her. In the case of characters though, I would have liked to get more of Jason and Cheryl in this; like, actual POV chapters. It would have been nice to learn more about Jason before his demise.
However, what I didn’t like was that there was no real plot, per se. I get that this book is just meant to precede the events of the show, but it would’ve been nice to have more of an actual story. It was just more like random events happening. I still enjoyed it though, because I love these characters, and I hope the following books are more interestin to read and have a real story to them.
So in this book it follows the main characters – Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica – the day before July 4th, when Jason Blossom disappears and is proclaimed dead by drowning. Betty is in LA for her internship and Veronica is still living in NYC, not knowing that her dad is about to be arrested. Meanwhile, Archie and Jughead are on the outs because Archie has been preoccupied. But through their points of view we find out how some of these characters got to the place they were before the show.
What I liked about the book is that you can hear the character’s voices, and you can tell who it is when reading. None of the characters deviated from their TV counterparts, though Veronica is more spoiled and bratty, but she admits that’s how she was right at the beginning of the show, so it’s not really off for her. In the case of characters though, I would have liked to get more of Jason and Cheryl in this; like, actual POV chapters. It would have been nice to learn more about Jason before his demise.
However, what I didn’t like was that there was no real plot, per se. I get that this book is just meant to precede the events of the show, but it would’ve been nice to have more of an actual story. It was just more like random events happening. I still enjoyed it though, because I love these characters, and I hope the following books are more interestin to read and have a real story to them.
m_cheese345's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sophiareagan's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mahart13's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5