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alexandrabree's review
3.0
All in all a pretty good read but it was missing depth. I've read a few movie to novel adaptations and they of course always stick to the movie script - I always try to read the book before seeing the movie but with the movie to book reverse situation Id seen this movie first- but often add layers, details... Just.. More if you know what I mean; which enhances the film, this book really didn't.
xfirefly9x's review
4.0
In this case, the movie was better, but then, it was Joss Whedon who made the movie and this is a novelisation. That said, the book format allowed Lebbon to delve deeper into that which you don't see in the movie and explored character motivations more. A few things didn't quite line up or could have been explored further, but overall, this made a decent read and was a great way to relive the movie without actually rewatching the movie.
frofox's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
constance2705's review
3.0
I get that there's a lot of sex in horror stories but there was just no need for this much.
Every single male in this story thinks about all the mad sex they could do with every single female they look at before they can think any other thought, it got a bit boring.
I read this because I'd heard it was better than the film, but its just fine.
Every single male in this story thinks about all the mad sex they could do with every single female they look at before they can think any other thought, it got a bit boring.
I read this because I'd heard it was better than the film, but its just fine.
tasharobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Read this one in order to discuss it on a podcast. (It was a great deep-dive conversation, with a ton to say about how the movie, novelization, and script all differ from each other.) It was an interesting read — very close to the movie in most regards, but with a few small bits that were in the screenplay and not in the movie, and with a visible attempt (familiar from other movie novelizations) to fill out the characters while not adding any dialogue. Unfortunately, the filling-out process turned Sitterson (the Robert Jenkins character) into a raging sexist, and Hadley (the Bradley Whitford character) into a racist. That isn't my interpretation — Sitterson (who narrates all the puppeteer segments, with Hadley relegated to just a background character) literally muses about what a sexist he is, and what a racist Hadley is.
This manifests throughout the book via Sitterson spending a LOT of time thinking about how "all women are mad" and holding them in contempt, while also ogling every woman he sees and thinking in detail about wanting to fuck them, especially Lin, the Chem head played in the movie by Amy Acker. (He also spends a fair bit of time focusing on her tight hair bun, which he thinks is so severe that styling her hair probably requires machine assistance.) Through Sitterson's ogling, we find out that Dana (Kristen Connolly) has shaved pubes, which "doesn't do it" for Sitterson, but he notes that Hadley really does like "baldies." I didn't need to know any of this.
Overall, it's a functional novelization. There are some poetic bits, usually built around violence and death. But it's nowhere near as satisfying, entertaining, funny, or scary as the movie.
This manifests throughout the book via Sitterson spending a LOT of time thinking about how "all women are mad" and holding them in contempt, while also ogling every woman he sees and thinking in detail about wanting to fuck them, especially Lin, the Chem head played in the movie by Amy Acker. (He also spends a fair bit of time focusing on her tight hair bun, which he thinks is so severe that styling her hair probably requires machine assistance.) Through Sitterson's ogling, we find out that Dana (Kristen Connolly) has shaved pubes, which "doesn't do it" for Sitterson, but he notes that Hadley really does like "baldies." I didn't need to know any of this.
Overall, it's a functional novelization. There are some poetic bits, usually built around violence and death. But it's nowhere near as satisfying, entertaining, funny, or scary as the movie.
dnemec's review
3.0
Never saw the movie, but this was pretty good. Much more of a story line than I thought there would be.
lucasgarner's review
2.0
The movie was wonderful, but this book only proved to me that, after reading another book by Tim Lebbon, the author has no writing ability what-so-ever. Lebbon writes like a high-schooler discovering the joys of writing for the first time. His writing is amateur. Poor sentence structure, cliched lines, over-describing everything, etc. He simply destroyed what the movie presented by offering a boring and uninspired rendition of the film. Do not read this book. Watch the movie instead.
lynnelovesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
This was a *REALLY* disappointing read. SPOILERS:
The movie is fantastic, and if I had not seen the movie first and had read this first, I would not watch the movie. The author employs copious amounts of sexist behavior and thoughts to the character Sitterson, racist exclamations to the character Hadley, makes Curt an ape before the effects of the puppeteers take place, makes Holden into a bit of a pig, makes Truman sound like a green recruit, adds all sorts of things that don't happen in the movie and actually changes scenes and sometimes which characters do what, and added a bunch of unnecessary sexual scenes and sexual descriptions of characters and monsters that came across as obsessive. After a point, all the added sexism and racism started to feel like the author inserting their own opinions into the characters.
While this could have been a great opportunity to go deeper into the lore of the Old Gods, the Ritual, etc., this book did not.
The only reason this gets a 2/5 is because I love the movie so damn much and because Marty's character/character traits survive largely intact.
The movie is fantastic, and if I had not seen the movie first and had read this first, I would not watch the movie. The author employs copious amounts of sexist behavior and thoughts to the character Sitterson, racist exclamations to the character Hadley, makes Curt an ape before the effects of the puppeteers take place, makes Holden into a bit of a pig, makes Truman sound like a green recruit, adds all sorts of things that don't happen in the movie and actually changes scenes and sometimes which characters do what, and added a bunch of unnecessary sexual scenes and sexual descriptions of characters and monsters that came across as obsessive. After a point, all the added sexism and racism started to feel like the author inserting their own opinions into the characters.
While this could have been a great opportunity to go deeper into the lore of the Old Gods, the Ritual, etc., this book did not.
The only reason this gets a 2/5 is because I love the movie so damn much and because Marty's character/character traits survive largely intact.