You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

3.73 AVERAGE


I wish we could learn about the conversation at the end of the book, but it was quite gripping.

It felt like a wild goose chase to me. I kept expecting it to get good, but between the drawn out chase for clues and not feeling a connection with the characters, it seemed like it was longer than it needed to be and fell below my expectations.

What a trip from start to end! I tried to listen to the audiobook, but there was so much lacking. From the photos and articles included inside. This is a mystery, thriller, spooktatisc read! If you liked the style of House of Leaves then give this one a try!

“Boring” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I bought this book because the news articles and other insertions intrigued me. Then they ended up having very little to do with the overall story. I’d say about 1% of the info found in the collection of “extras” did anything for plot and/or character development. In all honesty, I skipped large portions of this book before I even made it half-way. I’d read the first sentence of every paragraph, get the gist, and focus on the dialogue. I didn’t miss much. And I won’t miss this book as it gets donated to the nearest Goodwill.
adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Strong beginning which does feel like a media fueled ADD ride (in a good way). However, by about halfway through, the media ride spins out of control, the messaging feels tired and the story breaks down. While the ending leaves the mystery intact, so to speak, it also feels contrived.

In the ADD media funhouse mirror the characters also fall down as one dimensional constructs. Perhaps that was the point but not caring about the characters, at least not after a hundred or so pages, detracts from the book as a whole.


Loved this! I could not put this book down and neglected both my family and job while reading it. Such a good book! A great mystery that was completely engrossing.

I tried. Night Film is supposed to be a literary mystery, but the book just seemed a mystery to me, one in which I failed to become invested with the characters even after 364 pages.The protagonist proved dependent upon a few too many convenient ruses and private detective-like tricks I personally wouldn't equate with a hardened journalist, for my liking. All that said, Pessl certainly did well incorporating fictional Web pages, magazine articles and newspaper clippings within the novel; those parts were intriguing. Were this book marketed as a mystery, it would be a great choice. But I was expecting something else and maybe that's my fault.
adventurous challenging mysterious tense 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

4.5