Reviews

Devil House by John Darnielle

redvelvetpenguins's review

4.0

Listening to this in audiobook form was a little challenging as the chapters wildly shifted without a heads up that an entirely different story about to start. But beyond that, this author is smooth and subtle in their messaging and I am still entranced with his story telling voice and vision. I look forward to more in the future

noam's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

cecewychwood's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

nhernandez2015's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

jobis89's review

challenging slow-paced

2.0

worm_food's review

5.0

He's already been on uhm, actually, Sam Reich I KNOW you have this man's number please get him on dimension 20 LISTEN TO MEEE. His lyricism in writing is so despicable I hate songwriters whose craft transcends its vessel, I need to kill him insane style and then I will be at peace. Fuck you artistic integrity humanity and passion I don't know what this cunts talking about leave me alone 

mrsclicquot's review

4.0

I’m still not sure what it is I read.

I’m not sure whose story I was following…?

I’m baffled (in a good way)

notdanidevito's review

3.0

3.5 stars. John Darnielle is a fantastic storyteller and Devil House has some of the best world-setting building I’ve seen. I feel this book was marketed completely wrong, it’s really a commentary on the ethics of true crime storytelling by third parties and the mystification/dramatization of true crime cases. I enjoyed the structure of the book for the most part, minus “Song of Gorbonian,” which I felt was out of place and extremely hard to read (due to the medieval style font). This novel was not what I expected it to be and I appreciated it for that.

vanmeers's review against another edition

3.5

having read universal harvester prior to this one it’s so clear john darnielle has a lot of great ideas and really wants to push his readers to THINK. 

while universal harvester wanted us to think about our assumptions and ideas of people. devil house is all about how we consume true crime, the repercussions of true crime and how we sensational tragedy — not to mention, again, that sometimes we shouldn’t accept something as truth as blindly as we do. 

i listened to the audiobook narrated by darnielle and i still think he’s an exceptional narrator. it’s so easy and comfortable listening to him. i liked most parts of the book, felt it all mattered to the narrative, but the old english lore parts did bore me a bit. although i’m sure it’s easier to listen to than read. 

overall i liked how the story is told through gage’s eyes and then through the victims and perpetrators eyes — and i liked the twist and reversal of narrative at the end. can’t wait to read more by him in the future! 

mdupre's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5