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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
As someone who has grown up watching Star Wars, it has been a long and wonderful journey. The Last Jedi movie was a mixed bag of pleasure, sorrow, and disappointment.
In the last two movies, the fans have been faced with the mortality of several beloved characters. The good side of this is that the fans were also introduced to new and wonderful characters.
The Last Jedi is the latest chapter but for this fan, there were several aspects of the movie that needed further explanation. As a result, the book helped to bridge that gap. It was better to understand why the characters were doing the things that they were doing. This was accomplished by allowing access to their inner monologue.
For new fans, this might not be the best starting point because the story centers around characters that were introduced many years ago (books and movie wise). Even the new lead characters of Rey, Finn, General Hux and Kylo Ren were introduced before this book. So keep that in mind.
Overall, this review was difficult to write because of 40 years of history in the story. If you are a fan of Star Wars, it is not necessary to tell you that this would compliment the movie. I did enjoy this book overall because it did fill some of the plot holes for me.
In the last two movies, the fans have been faced with the mortality of several beloved characters. The good side of this is that the fans were also introduced to new and wonderful characters.
The Last Jedi is the latest chapter but for this fan, there were several aspects of the movie that needed further explanation. As a result, the book helped to bridge that gap. It was better to understand why the characters were doing the things that they were doing. This was accomplished by allowing access to their inner monologue.
For new fans, this might not be the best starting point because the story centers around characters that were introduced many years ago (books and movie wise). Even the new lead characters of Rey, Finn, General Hux and Kylo Ren were introduced before this book. So keep that in mind.
Overall, this review was difficult to write because of 40 years of history in the story. If you are a fan of Star Wars, it is not necessary to tell you that this would compliment the movie. I did enjoy this book overall because it did fill some of the plot holes for me.
Reading this book was a weird experience. On one side, it was extremely easy to picture, most of it is exactly the same as the film. On the other hand, there were some scenes that I felt weren’t described properly and lacked details in general. It was like reading a first draft of a script in a way. Some things did end up in the film, others did not, and a few others turned out for the better. I have an issue with the fact that the prologue never had a follow-up. It just kind of exists and that’s it. Also, I couldn’t quite interpret some emotions the way the author did, so I disagree with him in some instances. The book also has extended dialogues; most of the time, these dialogues work. But there are some scenes where the dialogues feel a bit too forced (i.e. some of Kylo’s sentences in Crait). Reading a novelization can have its ups and downs. Thankfully, this was good, although I do prefer the movie. I won’t go into story (I get so bored with the Canto Bight storyline though), or characters because I feel like people should just watch and enjoy the film. The third person POV was nice, it let us see a bit of every character. The pacing was okay, if a bit too slow at times. Also, Fry sometimes talks with terms that are too technical (ships and their components for example) and totally irrelevant to the story. I hated that. It just disrupted my reading and made it a slow going. A good novelization. The best I’ve ever read? I don’t think so, but it did give me the further insight on the characters that I desired.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This wasn't too shabby. It started out really strong-- adding Han's funeral and Luke's vision of what life could've been. But overall, this book hardly added anything extra that the movie didn't have. I thought the point of these novelizations, like the prequel novelization versions, were to flesh out and expand upon the movies, but there's not been enough of that going on in these sequels, in my opinion. This book, compared to Force Awakens, did have more going for it though. At the end of this novel, we get a few more details about Kylo Ren's thoughts and feelings, a sprinkling of legendary Luke lore, Poe's flashbacks to his mother, apparently the computer of the Millennium Falcon is sentient and communicates with R2-D2, Luke tells the alien nuns on the island that Rey is his niece, and Hux's dad was an officer in the Old Empire (I think?). Would have liked to see more details like this throughout because the original plots leave much to be desired. Here's to hoping the final sequel novelization will be the best of this trilogy.
Oh, and I should finish by saying that Marc Thompson is a phenomenal voice actor-- he matched the voices SO WELL. And the sound and music team made this audiobook a lot of fun to listen to.
Oh, and I should finish by saying that Marc Thompson is a phenomenal voice actor-- he matched the voices SO WELL. And the sound and music team made this audiobook a lot of fun to listen to.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Totally worth reading. Adds more context to the plot, explains a few things, gives some clarity. Overall, Last Jedi isn't perfect, it still drags and has stuff that doesn't need to be there. Bits that are a bit cringe worthy. Difference is, in a film when it's slow, it genuinely makes the film hard work. In a book it flows differently and didn't feel too slow at all. The Mary Poppins in Space moment remains, but is less weird when you don't see it. Leia and Chewie get a proper emotional moment in this version too.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. This gave me an amazing insight into this beautiful story. I just don't really care for the side arc of this story. I only care about the meat and bones of this story. TLJ has become my 3rd favorite Star Wars movie.