Reviews

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

twinkellereads's review against another edition

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not into sci fi

gormless's review against another edition

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2.75

Honestly not my favorite. I didn’t really like any of characters in this book, couldn’t stand Maddie so every time it was her POV I kind of just rolled my eyes. I did enjoy Oliver and liked the plot. I would have dropped it but the plot was there. 

rwilhoyte's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a solid three star book. Maybe even 4 stars if I'd gone into it with different expectations. I was expecting an atmospheric "ghosts as past trauma"/haunted house story and got something more science fiction/multiverse. This isn't bad, just not what I expected. Maybe that's on me since I am mostly aware of Wendig as a science fiction author.

My favorite part of this book was its characters but I feel like we didn't get to spend enough time with any of them, including Oliver who is supposed to be the main focus of the action but often seems to just be missing from large parts of the story. I think there might be too many of them.

My biggest issue with this book is that it's called The Book of Accidents and I'm still not 100% clear on how the book works as a device in the story. I think I could've used a bit more background on it versus background on the character of Jake.

Overall, I did like this book but I didn't find it one of Wendig's best.

bbrown1987's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sasuuuke's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5*

a lot was going on but i enjoyed reading

gettingbusyliving's review against another edition

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2.0

Too many questions unanswered.

ratstick's review against another edition

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3.0

That ending was so stupid. First of all, Nate was the absolute best character of the book and it's bullshit they didn't bring him back. Second what the fuck is up with Ollie? Going out to do some kind of big tent healing revival? Bad. I also really hated all of the niche pop culture references. It's just a "hey kids look I'm like you" like what old grandma would wear a welcome to night vale shirt? She'd be a deadhead. And what was the point of referencing anything other than D&D. Also the one Black character felt stereotypical af and the one SE Asian character didn't even have any lines, really.

I'm giving a 3 because the narrators of the audiobook were really good and a lot of the story telling was good. The plot kept me guessing for a while but the third act just kind of became annoying.

I just wish it was *better*.

juju8j's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

spooky347's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

the_pink_pharmacist's review against another edition

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

3.5

Well…. I wanted to love it. And I think I would have if certain areas and storylines had more time spent on them. I had questions and some things seemed like others might have inferred the answers but I did not and it left me confused and lost for quite a bit of the story.

I loved the idea of everything falling apart to come together, I just struggled to fill in too many pieces. 😔