Reviews

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

jefffrane's review against another edition

5.0

I owe Chuck Wendig an apology. In the first few chapters of The Book of Accidents I started thinking he'd made a serious error. Everyone knows that a horror story must start off very quietly, with life pretty much normal and nothing at all unsettling going on. Then the story builds and all the little hints and creaks begin to raise the hair on the reader's neck. If you start the story with a bunch of actual creepy bits where do you go from there? I'd completely forgotten Chuck Wendig's style: grab 'em by the throat and start dragging very fast in an increasingly dark direction.

Also true: anyone giving away plot business in a book review is a monster. Suffice it to say that Wendig will not loose that strangle hold on you until some time well after you've turned the last page of The Book of Accidents. There will be lots of creepiness and all the Easter Eggs smell bad. Yes, there will be ants and birds because Wendig is a little obsessed. Personally, I think this is Wendig's best work since the Miriam Black stories, which should have gone on forever.

youngthespian42's review against another edition

2.0

More of 2.5 Stars but I do not have that option. I had a love-hate relationship with this book. I really love the group of characters for the most part. I like the setting and basically all of the points leading up to when the reader learns what is happening. From the reveal of the source of the magic and strange things in the world, I was really out. I won’t spoil what this book is but it was a lot more sci-fi influenced horror than I expected and while Wendig was going for a giant cosmic “the universe is at stake” type of narrative I really struggled to understand why these characters were at the center of the storm. the antagonist’s motivations felt under-explained for pushing the end of things as well. I like Wendig’s characterization and I will give another book of his a shot but I do not feel like the resolution lived up to the grandiose nature of the story.

mettguns84's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

reneg's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

nightowlreader46's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

brooklyn0426's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

tennesseesteph's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.0

maverickams's review against another edition

The content was too scary and spooky for me 

blackbirdreads24's review against another edition

Read up until the last hundred pages or so and stopped about a couple months ago, haven’t touched it since. Kind of fell out of interest with it. Will go back and finish it one day.

madiswanreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5