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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok listen. Y’all are not gonna believe me after this but I’m a massive life is strange fan, like huge. but let’s be honest the writing was never that great to begin with. This book for me just comes across as being pretty cringe in its writing style and pandering, but I might just be outgrowing the demographic of the franchise. All of the times it tries to do some sort of political commentary it’s just comes across as so weird and disingenuous, like do you want me to clap? I also absolutely could not stand Izzie, she’s just an awful character to me. She’s rude as hell for absolutely no reason and I found myself literally rolling my eyes at some of the shit she says. The only real redeeming thing about this book is the call backs to the previous games and characters. That’s it.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have mixed feelings on this one. First up, there are lot of things I loved. Steph for example - she's nerdy and funny and I already loved her when I played LiS: True Colors. (I didn't play Before The Storm, but that wasn't a problem for me.) I liked the writing style, it fit Steph well, I think. There are a lot of pop cultural references, there's no purple prose, but at the same time there are well said sentences that made me feel something (though I can't say if this is because of the intonation the sentence had in my head or if others would think so, too.) Steph's friends were great and I loved how diverse the cast was in general.
It was great to see Izzie and Steph get to know eachother. In the beginning they were really sweet together.
However, I wasn't that happy with how everything developed. The book takes place over the course of two years, but in my opinion it doesn't dive deep enough into the characters and relationships dynamics to feel that way. Instead, it feels like there should've been more scenes between the two where they talk about their needs/wishes and also a few more scenes that show why they weren't just initially attracted to each other, but stayed together this long. Because of how short this book is, you don't have time to grow with them and they never seem to leave a state of "being attracted to each other, but not knowing much about the other". It seems like the time span is way shorter than it actually is.
I get that miscommunication is a big part of the problems they have and I get how that came to be, but I would've liked for them to have the chance to turn it around by giving them a conversation that goes deeper that the ones included. It would've given their relationship more depth and would've made their struggle more impactful.
I do think this is worth a read if you're interested in LiS and specifically Steph. It just wasn't as good as I hoped it'd be.
All in all, I really liked Stephs character arc though. The way she's shown in the beginning, this nerdy life with D&D, Critical Role and the café, how all of this disappears over the course of the story, because she starts doing what she thinks Izzie will like. How she kind of "adapts" to Izzie in a way, because she's so fascinated by her and doesn't want to lose her. That was very well done in my opinion, as well as Steph finding out that she lost herself in the process.
It was great to see Izzie and Steph get to know eachother. In the beginning they were really sweet together.
However, I wasn't that happy with how everything developed. The book takes place over the course of two years, but in my opinion it doesn't dive deep enough into the characters and relationships dynamics to feel that way. Instead, it feels like there should've been more scenes between the two where they talk about their needs/wishes and also a few more scenes that show why they weren't just initially attracted to each other, but stayed together this long. Because of how short this book is, you don't have time to grow with them and they never seem to leave a state of "being attracted to each other, but not knowing much about the other". It seems like the time span is way shorter than it actually is.
I get that miscommunication is a big part of the problems they have and I get how that came to be, but I would've liked for them to have the chance to turn it around by giving them a conversation that goes deeper that the ones included. It would've given their relationship more depth and would've made their struggle more impactful.
I do think this is worth a read if you're interested in LiS and specifically Steph. It just wasn't as good as I hoped it'd be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable addition to the fictional universe of Life Is Strange, the book feels true to the themes and the tone of the games. There are many nods to the main games (excluding the dissapointing Life Is Strange 2) as well as the comics [b:Life Is Strange: Dust|39380461|Life Is Strange Dust|Emma Vieceli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553572296l/39380461._SY75_.jpg|61041001] and Critical Role. While Steph's Story doesn't fundamentally change the main narrative, it is nice to learn more about fan-favorite Steph and her life between Life Is Strange: Before the Storm and Life Is Strange: True Colors. The last part in feels a bit rushed and forced to align with the games, but it is still interesting to get a glimpse of . Overall, a quick and worthwhile read for fans of the games.