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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Interesting, initially hard to get into. Absurd is normal and vice versa. I'll check out the podcast.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book! The writing style was super unusual, but it was great! It was a really great story about a really weird and strange town and its people. If you are a fan of X-Files, Gravity Falls, Stranger Things, or Doctor Who... This is the book for you!
Oh, Night Vale how I’ve loved you. With your mysteries, kooky characters and delightfully dark vibes (ok, let’s face it, and the “oh so random” type of humour).
I’ve been a long time listener of the podcast and even own Night Vale merch. So of course I was excited about this book and bought it as soon as I saw it in bookstores in 2016.
It is now 2021 and as I FINALLY got around to reading it I realised that maybe it was a little too late. Was it Night Vale? Absolutely. Was it fun? Ehhhh… let’s get into it.
It’s written just like a long (very long) episode of the podcast and could have been an interesting side story in the one of the podcasts’ arcs. The plot mainly revolves around two new characters while the background is sprinkled with Nigh Vale regulars.
Sounds like a perfect setup for the book, right? To experience Night Vale through the experiences of someone new that has their own adventures within the same world? On paper that idea seems fantastic. However, on the paper that makes up this novel it just doesn’t work.
A book that would just read like a super long episode of Night Vale would perhaps make the reader question why this needed to be a book to begin with, but it’s interesting to get to know and follow new characters, right? Yes and no, but mostly no. It just didn't do it for me.
I’m giving it three stars because in the end I did like it. It’s Night Vale, so of course it has its charm and was even a bit nostalgic for me. At the same time it was kind of a slog to get through. It only took a few days but I often wanted to give up.
I’ve been a long time listener of the podcast and even own Night Vale merch. So of course I was excited about this book and bought it as soon as I saw it in bookstores in 2016.
It is now 2021 and as I FINALLY got around to reading it I realised that maybe it was a little too late. Was it Night Vale? Absolutely. Was it fun? Ehhhh… let’s get into it.
It’s written just like a long (very long) episode of the podcast and could have been an interesting side story in the one of the podcasts’ arcs. The plot mainly revolves around two new characters while the background is sprinkled with Nigh Vale regulars.
Sounds like a perfect setup for the book, right? To experience Night Vale through the experiences of someone new that has their own adventures within the same world? On paper that idea seems fantastic. However, on the paper that makes up this novel it just doesn’t work.
A book that would just read like a super long episode of Night Vale would perhaps make the reader question why this needed to be a book to begin with, but it’s interesting to get to know and follow new characters, right? Yes and no, but mostly no. It just didn't do it for me.
I’m giving it three stars because in the end I did like it. It’s Night Vale, so of course it has its charm and was even a bit nostalgic for me. At the same time it was kind of a slog to get through. It only took a few days but I often wanted to give up.
surreal yet heartwarming, much like the podcast.. listened to audiobook because his voice is so so calming
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
I've been listening to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast for a few years now, and I feel like I'm just about done with it at this point. I was wondering whether or not I was just burnt out on the whole thing and whether that was colouring how I saw this book, but after seeing a few reviews here on Goodreads it seems I'm not the only one.
This book just isn't very good. It takes about 250 of it's 401 pages to actually start telling much of the story, often going off into tangents that mean nothing and go nowhere. It may be an attempt to build atmosphere, but the constant undercutting of every world building moment with a punchline kind of ruins any of that and the book feels neither overtly funny nor sufficiently scary, a balance that the podcast was at one time able to pull off very well.
Around the last hundred pages, when the characters finally started to show some agency and do something, the book started to feel like less of a slog, bumping it up to a two-star rating for me. Bigger fans of the podcast, especially those who like it in its current state, will probably like the book, but I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
This book just isn't very good. It takes about 250 of it's 401 pages to actually start telling much of the story, often going off into tangents that mean nothing and go nowhere. It may be an attempt to build atmosphere, but the constant undercutting of every world building moment with a punchline kind of ruins any of that and the book feels neither overtly funny nor sufficiently scary, a balance that the podcast was at one time able to pull off very well.
Around the last hundred pages, when the characters finally started to show some agency and do something, the book started to feel like less of a slog, bumping it up to a two-star rating for me. Bigger fans of the podcast, especially those who like it in its current state, will probably like the book, but I wouldn't recommend it for most people.