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24carrotgay's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
this book is a jumble of puzzle pieces at the beginning that become a full, satisfying picture at the end. i really enjoyed it, particularly the last half! i gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 because (1) it took me a bit to get into it and (2) there are several lines and jokes that reeeaaally didn’t age well. overall though, it was delightful! i’m very excited to watch the show!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Homophobia, Torture, Racism, and Rape
helhas3letters's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I had so much fun reading this. It's a dryly humorous and very British account of the biblical armageddon, as told through the eyes of an angel, a demon, 2 witchfinders, 2 witches, a fraudulent medium, the four horsemen (motorcyclists) of the apocalypse, and an 11-year-old antichrist. It has endearing characters, exciting plot points, and a lovely - actually quite profound - prodding at philosophical concepts of morality.
There were a lot of characters in different settings, so I did have to make a particular effort to concentrate on remembering all the names, who they were, and where we left them. This fortunately had a beautiful payoff when most of the narratives ended up weaving together towards the end. I most enjoyed reading the parts with the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, and the Four (i.e. the four horsemen of the apocalypse).
I found this novel very easy to read. Both authors adapt to each other's writing styles seamlessly; I really couldn't tell if any sections were written by either one of them. I almost wrote here that the end of the book comes about very quickly compared to the first half, but then I realised that that's just because I raced through the final 150-or-so pages in one night. A testament(!) to its readability?
Although it was very definitely written by two white men in the 90s, it's generally a pleasant read, with not many "wow how did this even get printed back then" moments. Most of the important main characters are male and there's not much racial diversity - but I've been told the TV show is decent with regards to the latter. If you can turn off that side of your brain for a bit, it's a great novel.
There were a lot of characters in different settings, so I did have to make a particular effort to concentrate on remembering all the names, who they were, and where we left them. This fortunately had a beautiful payoff when most of the narratives ended up weaving together towards the end. I most enjoyed reading the parts with the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, and the Four (i.e. the four horsemen of the apocalypse).
I found this novel very easy to read. Both authors adapt to each other's writing styles seamlessly; I really couldn't tell if any sections were written by either one of them. I almost wrote here that the end of the book comes about very quickly compared to the first half, but then I realised that that's just because I raced through the final 150-or-so pages in one night. A testament(!) to its readability?
Although it was very definitely written by two white men in the 90s, it's generally a pleasant read, with not many "wow how did this even get printed back then" moments. Most of the important main characters are male and there's not much racial diversity - but I've been told the TV show is decent with regards to the latter. If you can turn off that side of your brain for a bit, it's a great novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Homophobia, Police brutality, Torture, and War
mobymaize's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Torture, Alcohol, Car accident, and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Slavery
kerttuli's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: War, Cursing, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Blood, Torture, and Car accident
jessicaludden's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”
I thought this was really funny and I liked the humor in it even though I never really laughed out loud. The beginning had me super interested, but the middle dragged for me and I got kinda bored. Mainly because I really liked all the characters’ POVs except Newt, Anathema, Mr. Shadwell, and Madame Tracy. I loved Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship. I really liked Adam, thought he was hilarious. Also really loved the Horsepersons. The ending was a little iffy to me. I understood what happened, but I just didn’t really get why or how. I liked all the prophecy stuff with Agnes and the idea that there’s a Great Plan. There were many times I was confused and had to go back a little to reread and make sure I understood what was happening. It’s definitely not a casual read. You really have to pay attention while you read. Overall, it was enjoyable and I had a good time, just got bored at certain parts.
Favorite Quotes:
“Firstly, that God moved in extremely mysterious, not to say, circuitous ways. God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising… to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
“…the Earth’s a Libra.”
“You couldn’t be a demon and have free will.”
“They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse.”
“People couldn’t become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.”
“Hell wasn’t a major reservoir of evil, any more than Heaven, in Crowley’s opinion, was a fountain of goodness; they were just sides in the great cosmic chess game. Where you found the real McCoy, the real grace and the real heart-stopping evil, was right inside the human mind.”
“It is said that the devil has all the best tunes. This is broadly true. But Heaven has the best choreographers.”
“‘You see, evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction…’”
“Evil never sleeps, and Virtue is ever-vigilant.”
“The things that really change the world, according to Chaos Theory, are the tiny things.”
“…because if there is one thing a man wants to know when he’s woken up in a panic at 400 A.M., it’s that he’s not alone.”
“‘…Agnes didn’t see the future. That’s just a metaphor. She remembered it.’”
“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist.”
“Only Death hadn’t changed. Some things don’t.”
“Death of a sort lurks inside every living creature.”
“Adam looked at the Them. They were his kind of people too.”
“‘I don’t see why it matters what is written. Not when it’s about people. It can always be crossed out.’”
“I’d just like to say… if we don’t get out of this, that… I’ll have known, deep down inside, that there was a spark of goodness in you.’”
“‘Just remember that I’ll have known that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.’”
“It all hung around in his mind, not exactly forgotten but forever hanging on the cusp of recollection, a memory of thing that hadn’t happened.”
“And if you want to imagine the future… imagine a figure, half angel, half devil, all human… slouching hopefully towards Tadfield… forever.”
I thought this was really funny and I liked the humor in it even though I never really laughed out loud. The beginning had me super interested, but the middle dragged for me and I got kinda bored. Mainly because I really liked all the characters’ POVs except Newt, Anathema, Mr. Shadwell, and Madame Tracy. I loved Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship. I really liked Adam, thought he was hilarious. Also really loved the Horsepersons. The ending was a little iffy to me. I understood what happened, but I just didn’t really get why or how. I liked all the prophecy stuff with Agnes and the idea that there’s a Great Plan. There were many times I was confused and had to go back a little to reread and make sure I understood what was happening. It’s definitely not a casual read. You really have to pay attention while you read. Overall, it was enjoyable and I had a good time, just got bored at certain parts.
Favorite Quotes:
“Firstly, that God moved in extremely mysterious, not to say, circuitous ways. God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising… to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
“…the Earth’s a Libra.”
“You couldn’t be a demon and have free will.”
“They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse.”
“People couldn’t become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.”
“Hell wasn’t a major reservoir of evil, any more than Heaven, in Crowley’s opinion, was a fountain of goodness; they were just sides in the great cosmic chess game. Where you found the real McCoy, the real grace and the real heart-stopping evil, was right inside the human mind.”
“It is said that the devil has all the best tunes. This is broadly true. But Heaven has the best choreographers.”
“‘You see, evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction…’”
“Evil never sleeps, and Virtue is ever-vigilant.”
“The things that really change the world, according to Chaos Theory, are the tiny things.”
“…because if there is one thing a man wants to know when he’s woken up in a panic at 400 A.M., it’s that he’s not alone.”
“‘…Agnes didn’t see the future. That’s just a metaphor. She remembered it.’”
“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist.”
“Only Death hadn’t changed. Some things don’t.”
“Death of a sort lurks inside every living creature.”
“Adam looked at the Them. They were his kind of people too.”
“‘I don’t see why it matters what is written. Not when it’s about people. It can always be crossed out.’”
“I’d just like to say… if we don’t get out of this, that… I’ll have known, deep down inside, that there was a spark of goodness in you.’”
“‘Just remember that I’ll have known that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.’”
“It all hung around in his mind, not exactly forgotten but forever hanging on the cusp of recollection, a memory of thing that hadn’t happened.”
“And if you want to imagine the future… imagine a figure, half angel, half devil, all human… slouching hopefully towards Tadfield… forever.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Torture, War, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Racism
skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Hmm. I liked this book more by the last third or so, but still, it took me a while to get into it. There were a lot of dark violent things that deeply bothered me, even though they were usually taken back or didn't happen or whatever. I think I might like the show more. I did like the last few bits a lot though.
Edit/update: I do like the show more, and that's made me want to bump my review of the book up to 4 stars?? But I'm not going to because that seems silly. But I'd maybe recommend watching the show and then reading the book. A fair amount is different, and maybe it'll make the show harder to understand (?), but I think doing things in that order would have made me enjoy the book more. I like the show and am excited for the second season, but I also don't like it enough to want to reread the book haha.
Edit/update: I do like the show more, and that's made me want to bump my review of the book up to 4 stars?? But I'm not going to because that seems silly. But I'd maybe recommend watching the show and then reading the book. A fair amount is different, and maybe it'll make the show harder to understand (?), but I think doing things in that order would have made me enjoy the book more. I like the show and am excited for the second season, but I also don't like it enough to want to reread the book haha.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Eating disorder, Murder, Car accident, and Death
Moderate: War, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Racism, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Sexual assault, Genocide, and Infidelity
qrschulte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
2019: This book was hilarious. I wish I could have read it all closer together so I would have gotten the full impact of it, instead of having to get back into it. I know I’ll enjoy it even more on my next read.
2023: Still loved this book, but boy howdy I didn’t remember how badly a lot of it aged. But I did love reading it after watching the show, and picturing the actors and hearing their voices. Made it even better.
2023: Still loved this book, but boy howdy I didn’t remember how badly a lot of it aged. But I did love reading it after watching the show, and picturing the actors and hearing their voices. Made it even better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Car accident, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Death, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, War, and Confinement
Moderate: Gun violence, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity
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