Reviews

i was really intrigued by the description of the book and the idea of video tapes being returned with random scenes spliced into them? but while it does start out with this, it doesn’t “take a dark turn” as the description says, but rather it baits you into thinking it might.

it’s less an eerie and sinister tale and more a story on grief and family trauma. which WAS good but it wasn’t what i expected.

i think it’s always interesting when stories try to make you question your own believes and assumptions. which the story does both implicitly and explicitly at times. so while this wasn’t what i thought it would be, i still very much enjoyed listening to the audiobook of it.

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4.0

John Darnielle's writing style and pacing is simply beautiful. His capacity for suspense is stunning.

I enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down...until the ending. Is it very unsophisticated of me to want a novel wrap up nicely with all questions answered? Probably.

The majority of the book leads you to believe something or someone crazy is lurking in plain sight of a quaint midwest town. However, as you find out, the "lunatic" is just a woman dealing with the grief of losing her mother at a young age. And the woman, like her father, has become obsessed with finding her. It starts out as a mystery/thriller and ends as the depressing story of the neurotic life of an abandoned daughter: a bit of a bait an switch. I enjoyed the trick and the skill with which Darnielle accomplished it, however, it made the whole thing seem a little anticlimactic.

Maybe that's his point. Sometimes life is a little anticlimactic. Maybe you never find what you're searching for. Hey, is this getting too deep?

Nonetheless, I will most certainly be picking Wolf in White Van to read next. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book even if I'm unsure of the payoff.