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inthebooknook's review against another edition
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.
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.
erikashoedoe's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
thedocument's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
cartoonrowdy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tgranat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
adudeandhislife's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
julsreadinglist's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
inkyfingerspgs's review against another edition
1.0
I received an advance copy of this book with my most recent Indiespensable shipment. Upon seeing the unique packaging and reading the blurb on the back, I was really excited to read it. The story sounded creepy and intriguing, so I began reading it right away. Unfortunately, it was neither of those things.
The plot held a lot of promise, but after setting up a spooky situation (odd scenes from apparent home movies are somehow spliced onto video tape rentals), the story veers off to follow different characters. Their actions eventually come together, but those separate storylines by themselves are quite dull. Ultimately, I don't think I really had a sense of who any of the characters were or why they were doing what they were doing. Their choices often seemed odd and unbelievable. At the end of the book, when all of the threads were woven together, I found myself thinking two things: "Yeah, right," and "So what?" The big reveal fell quite flat and the separate storylines felt forced together.
The only thing that could have saved a book like this would have been especially beautiful writing that I could admire independently of the plot and characters it was attached to. This book didn't have that either.
The plot held a lot of promise, but after setting up a spooky situation (odd scenes from apparent home movies are somehow spliced onto video tape rentals), the story veers off to follow different characters. Their actions eventually come together, but those separate storylines by themselves are quite dull. Ultimately, I don't think I really had a sense of who any of the characters were or why they were doing what they were doing. Their choices often seemed odd and unbelievable. At the end of the book, when all of the threads were woven together, I found myself thinking two things: "Yeah, right," and "So what?" The big reveal fell quite flat and the separate storylines felt forced together.
The only thing that could have saved a book like this would have been especially beautiful writing that I could admire independently of the plot and characters it was attached to. This book didn't have that either.
punkrockingnerd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It's pretty good! Definitely fits the "Kentucky Route Zero" vibe, and that's always appreciated, but I feel like I need to read it again to fully understand it all, you know?
hp_reading's review against another edition
3.0
I like books that are clever and have an interesting structure, but I don't like to feel confused when I finish. And confused in such a way that I don't even know where to start if I wanted to figure it out. This book was interestingly written and very vivid, but like the situation the characters are in in the book, everything feels disjointed and not enough information - just enough to keep you interested to finish. This is one of those books where I would like to read it in a class so that I had people I could progressively unpack it with because I think I've missed a lot of things. Getting to the end, I think I would like to go back and read it knowing what I know now, but unfortunately I don't feel invested in the characters enough to do so.
Overall very interesting, but just not the book for me.
Overall very interesting, but just not the book for me.