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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Cute, witty, and like reading the podcast. Definitely a read and pass on because more people need to be exposed to this dark, obscure humour!
I'm sure it's a law (somewhere) that you can't read this book unless you have listened to at least some of the WTNV podcast on which this is based. If you haven't, please put the book down, slap yourself once or twice for your blatant temerity, and then go listen to it before you pick up this book again. Or tell a WTNV fan and they'll be happy to slap you for you, if you're worried you'll go easy on yourself.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Gostei do livro! Comprei e comecei a ler como um estudo pra escrever minha audiosérie de alienígena, mas acabou que em termos de tom e estilo não tem muito mais a ver. O maior desafio desse livro ao meu ver era criar uma narrativa linear que se passa numa cidade onde a não-linearidade, o caos e o nonsense reinam acima de tudo. Mas acho que eles conseguiram! Gostei muito das trocas de perspectivas e as duas protagonistas são ótimas personagens. No todo, acho que o ponto principal do livro, que também vejo como o melhor aspecto do podcast é a atmosfera que emana da cidade e do estilo da escrita. Assim como no podcast, lendo, imaginava a cidade no meio do deserto quase que num eterno crepúsculo. A cidade é de fato, o personagem mais interessante
The first thing: I don't want to say it's necessary to listen to the podcast in order to enjoy this book, but, like, I really do think it's necessary to listen to the podcast in order to enjoy this book. You don't have to listen to every episode of WNV, but it helps to have a sense of the world and the really specific texture of it. The Night Vale book is full of shout-outs that faithful listeners will appreciate and chuckle over, but more important than catching the references, I think, is grasping how Night Vale works.
The second thing: I don't think it's necessary to be entirely current with the podcast. Or even to be a super fan. There's enough happening, enough of the familiar weirdness coupled with new characters and a refreshing change in focus (what's it like to be one of the residents of Night Vale? if you could shape-shift yourself out of there, I mean, wouldn't you?), to reward even those of us who have drifted away from the podcast.
The third thing: I find Night Vale, both book and podcast, really moving. The absurdity and chaos and calamitous mania work for me as a reader and as a listener.
Another thing: I started listening to Welcome to Night Vale in December 2013, on the strength of raves from a friend at work. I loaded a bunch of episodes on my phone and got into my car to drive south to see my family for Christmas. On the way, I was stopping to visit one of my closest friends, who I guess I should say was dying, although I don't know how aware we were of that at the time. (She was aware of it. I was in deep denial.) She lived just a few hours away, but far enough that I could listen to the first ten or so episodes of WNV. I have a shitty adapter for my phone, the kind that plays phone things over staticky radio stations, so I listened to the voice of Night Vale Community Radio through much crackling and blipping and hissing, which struck me as absolutely perfect. The strangeness of Night Vale provided a comforting escape from my own life, a life in which someone I loved was dying, which was both too strange and too real.
Just one more thing, I swear: Librarians really should be avoided. I'm a librarian; I should know.
The second thing: I don't think it's necessary to be entirely current with the podcast. Or even to be a super fan. There's enough happening, enough of the familiar weirdness coupled with new characters and a refreshing change in focus (what's it like to be one of the residents of Night Vale? if you could shape-shift yourself out of there, I mean, wouldn't you?), to reward even those of us who have drifted away from the podcast.
The third thing: I find Night Vale, both book and podcast, really moving. The absurdity and chaos and calamitous mania work for me as a reader and as a listener.
Another thing: I started listening to Welcome to Night Vale in December 2013, on the strength of raves from a friend at work. I loaded a bunch of episodes on my phone and got into my car to drive south to see my family for Christmas. On the way, I was stopping to visit one of my closest friends, who I guess I should say was dying, although I don't know how aware we were of that at the time. (She was aware of it. I was in deep denial.) She lived just a few hours away, but far enough that I could listen to the first ten or so episodes of WNV. I have a shitty adapter for my phone, the kind that plays phone things over staticky radio stations, so I listened to the voice of Night Vale Community Radio through much crackling and blipping and hissing, which struck me as absolutely perfect. The strangeness of Night Vale provided a comforting escape from my own life, a life in which someone I loved was dying, which was both too strange and too real.
Just one more thing, I swear: Librarians really should be avoided. I'm a librarian; I should know.
funny
mysterious
In this book based on a podcast we follow a PTA mom and a perpetual teen as they try to understand why their lives are being unravelled. I listened religiously to the podcast when it was running and its uniqueness stands the test of time. I’m not sure how Nightvale is perceived if encountering it first in bookform but as a listener this was such a comfort to read. I’ve missed Cecil’s phrases and idiosyncrasies and it was nice hearing him in this form. Nightvale succeeds exceptionally well in its worldbuilding, and they keep this up in this novel. While there is an inherent chaos, unpredictability, and mystery surrounding the town – the underlying logic of how things work is solid.
Humor often comes from the unexpected, through surprising and subverting our cultural concepts and connections. This is definitely the case with Nightvale. The contrast between the understandable workings of a small town and the absolute insanity which follows, as a matter of normal life, gives it a dark humor. It's how we get woman considering whether a door is push or pull, only to discover it’s a typical bleed door. At some point Diane says that her town is comforting nonsense, and that is how I also see it. While calamity befalls every citizen, the constancy of the town itself and of course Cecil makes it soothing to me.
The story of Diane and Jackie is well structured. We follow them separately investigating, and their internal struggles. Then as we progress, they make common cause and the mystery is developed well. There are A LOT of callbacks to the show which were fun. I also like the idea to explore one of the many side-events Cecil mentions so casually. For every Valentine day’s mayhem, there are citizens caught in the middle. It’s a very charming book that made we want to re-binge the series.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
This was the second time reading this book (the first time was 2021 I think?) and I still liked it but the pacing was so slow 🫠 I think this books biggest strengths are mixing the night vale typical weirdness with the weirdness and mess that is growing up and transitioning from being a teenager to an adult and just the characters. They were really loveable and relatable and made this book super fun to read. Also the library scene was GREAT, as well as exploring characters and places in night vale that we don't hear from a lot in the podcast.
My biggest criticism is that it kind of feels like they desperately tried to put EVERY SINGLE night vale character into this book which made it feel like Jackie and Diane were just running from character to character trying to gather information in the middle of the book and it really dragged on for a little too long... HOWEVER I think this would work really well as a video game or an RPG of some sort? That could be fun because somewhere in the middle it felt more like explaining a quest than telling a story
I am very much looking forward to reading the other Night vale books now because I heard that theyre better! I like this for what it is but I think the authors learned a lot since then!!
My biggest criticism is that it kind of feels like they desperately tried to put EVERY SINGLE night vale character into this book which made it feel like Jackie and Diane were just running from character to character trying to gather information in the middle of the book and it really dragged on for a little too long... HOWEVER I think this would work really well as a video game or an RPG of some sort? That could be fun because somewhere in the middle it felt more like explaining a quest than telling a story
I am very much looking forward to reading the other Night vale books now because I heard that theyre better! I like this for what it is but I think the authors learned a lot since then!!
Well, I'm a bit disappointed by this book. Because I've heard the podcasts, the beginning of the book was rather boring as it talked about things I already knew and recounted jokes that I'd already heard (the dog park, the city council, Cecil about Carlos, ...).
But that's not the book's fault, as it did need to set up the story and they couldn't do that without re-using stuff from the podcasts.
However, I feel like it never took off. I was well into 30 % of the book before I realized which characters were the one used in this book (because I expected it to be about Cecil and Carlos and kept waiting for them to appear). The action/story only started to really take form/make sense around 40 % and well... I'm not a fan of the endgame plot.
Plus, I found the writing very monotone. It was almost a chore to read :/ The 'jokes' and metaphors about real life and cynicism were awesome, but it was so mixed with the Lovecraft levels of nonsense and bit of plot, that sometimes I was looking for the punch line, to finally realize that we'd left joking a while back and were back into real plot advancements, despite the convoluted narration.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Never heard of the podcast before. I randomly picked up the second book without realizing it was a sequel but it's focused on different characters so youre not super lost if you read out of order.
The audiobook narration is really good. It's very weird and wacky.
I just thought it was a bit slow at times.
The audiobook narration is really good. It's very weird and wacky.
I just thought it was a bit slow at times.
adventurous
dark
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:
Yes
One my favorite podcast & I finally got the chance to buy the first two books in series. This one was interesting as i just started to get back in Night Vale again & finally got to learn about the man who nobody remembered but he does have a deer skin suitcase. It felt it just like the podcast, with its weird but comical way of the describing cosmic horror or the story about a lady who doesn’t age normally who owns a pawn shop. Would reccomend if you want a weird read.