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judassilver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Transphobia, Misogyny, Death, Alcohol, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, Addiction, and Stalking
Minor: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everyone that knows my reading tastes knows how much I adored "Neverworld Wake", and because of that love I have waited to read "Night Film". Marisha Pessl's writing is simply magic to me, and because her backlist is so short, I have been waiting to read her other stories so I can really savor them. "Night Film" was 1000% worth the wait and I already want to read it again!
This novel follows Scott McGrath, a disgraced journalist who ruined his career by sharing disparaging remarks about esteemed film director Stanislaus Cordova on national TV. Cordova has remained a mystery for years, and he has not been seen by the public for decades. This elusiveness has made him a huge topic of interest for those who love his movies. Cordova's daughter, Ashley, is found dead at 24-years-old in an abandoned warehouse. With this shocking news taking the world by storm, Scott finds himself sucked back into Cordova's mysterious world trying to uncover what really happened to Ashley and finally unveil who Cordova is.
I loved everything about this book. There are some mixed media elements throughout the book that made the reading experience all the more memorable, as well as making us, the readers, feel like we are finding clues along with Scott. The mystery keeps twisting and morphing as the story goes, and by the time the ending comes, it is difficult to decipher what ended up being the truth. There is a somewhat ambiguous ending that I felt like highlighted Cordova's mysteries life perfectly. Marisha left the perfect trail of breadcrumbs to lead us to uncovering all of the secrets surrounding Ashley's death, but I still was shocked by most of the reveals.
I cannot recommend this book enough!
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Torture, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement
Minor: Cancer and Car accident
limina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
nicolinebl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended.
It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled.
None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!
There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.
There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?
Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part.
Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!)
I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary and
I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all.
PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Trafficking, and Transphobia
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Slavery, and Vomit
tiemzahra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This one gave me House of Leaves vibe. A fictional documentary that seems true, Cordova’s films feel realistic. There were screenshots of the cult website, pictures of his mansion (heavily edited but acceptable), lives of so many people involved; the actors and actresses and people they met along the way. It was a creepy book and both revelations (fake and true) were believable that I didn’t mind which one’s which.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Car accident, and Sexual harassment