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afabbi's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
corygrimes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
sagicarrius's review against another edition
The premise sounded so strange and promising but by page 64 I just couldn’t wrap my brain around what was happening.
chibin00b's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
quintusmarcus's review against another edition
2.0
Seemed like a cool premise (creepy scenes spliced into the middle of movies on videocassette), but the story got very confusing. That said, the author's portrayal of small town life in 1980's Iowa and Nebraska is quite good. This might be worth reading again to see if it makes better sense the second time, but with so much to read, I'm not sure it's worth the effort.
madsthemads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
zgonzale's review against another edition
4.0
With Universal Harvester, John Darnielle has cemented himself as a thought-provoking master of prose. On the surface, this novel is a puzzle box story whose structure is similar to JJ Abrams's tv show Lost: introducing and approaching a central, sinister mystery found on VHS tapes from multiple characters, time periods, and geographic locations over the course of the novel's four parts. However, the puzzle never completely comes together. Instead, Darnielle gives the reader enough pieces to put together their own picture. Once the reader begins slotting the pieces together, Universal Harvester becomes less about the what, where, and why of the VHS tapes and more a subtle but powerful story about the effect of absence and a portrait of Midwestern living.
buchhoar136's review against another edition
4.0
I may be biased due to being a Mountain Goats fan, but I enjoyed this book.
I really enjoy John's writing style I am excited to see him grow as author as I how i have seen his lyrical writing progress through the years.
If you read the back cover of Universal Harvester, you may be expecting some sort of mystery thriller, not the story the evolved into an exploration of grief that this book actually contains... so I understand that there are some reviewers rating this low.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story telling of this book, and the writing kept me engaged through the whole book.
I really enjoy John's writing style I am excited to see him grow as author as I how i have seen his lyrical writing progress through the years.
If you read the back cover of Universal Harvester, you may be expecting some sort of mystery thriller, not the story the evolved into an exploration of grief that this book actually contains... so I understand that there are some reviewers rating this low.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story telling of this book, and the writing kept me engaged through the whole book.
wrenwreads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0