Reviews

Another Faust by Dina Nayeri, Daniel Nayeri

sp1derpr1ncess's review

1.0

I don’t remember when I read this book. but I do remember it’s the worst book i’ve ever read.

kraley's review

2.0

This was one of the longest books I read in 2010 for very little pay-off. The story was meandering and convoluted. The characters weren't engaging enough to root for and the authors really seem to wallow in the nastiness of the mean characters. This book would have greatly benefited from a skilled editor who could have tightened up the story. The main premise was interesting, but it took too long to get there. I wouldn't invest any more time in these authors.

kaiyoomi's review

rereading a book i remembered from when i was younger. it was easy to keep your attention, with the desire to unravel all the secrets in it but for me the ending fell kind of flat

des92's review against another edition

5.0

When I first saw this book in the store I was really intrigued by the cover I don't know why, it's not the best cover but it was a few years ago so I was a bit younger and it seemed interesting. I bought it and read it and I really loved this book, it wasn't anything I've ever read before, it brought me in and I really wanted to see how it played out and what happened with the characters. There's no romance really, it's just a book about what happens when you make a deal with the devil and if that interests you a lot I think it's worth the read.

mbrandmaier's review

4.0

Spellbinding. The more I read, the more I couldn't put it down. Can you imagine selling your soul to the devil for your heart's innermost desire?

betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition

4.0

A devilish debut by a brother-sister team invites us into the world of the elite Marlowe School, where some gifted students are having a hell of a year.

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the sideeffects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: retelling; quirky, imaginative world and characters; lots of action and suspense; some unforeseen plot twists; a good amount of giggle-worthy references and scenes; general high school drama

I read Dr. Faustus in college, and when I read the back of this novel and realized it was a sort-of-retelling of the same story as Faust and Mephistopheles, I knew I needed to read it; you don't see many retellings of that particular story, after all (at least, I don't think you do) and this one seemed especially intriguing.

The world building, while lacking in a few different distinct departments (for instance, I didn't really get a true sense of the setting, or how the magic came about—apart from the fact that Mephistopheles, as a minion of the devil, has the ability to take and receive “gifts” on a whim), the characters are thoroughly explored, the story is well-researched, and the modern day setting brings a subtle sense of paranormal WRONG that just feels so, so right.

There are characters you will love immediately, characters you won't be certain of until much later on, and characters you will love at first...and find you loathe at the end. The writing, while simplistic, has some GORGEOUS moments nonetheless—profound and wisened quotes that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

And for being a brother/sister collaboration, this story is pretty seamless—I couldn't for certain tell you where one sibling ended and the other picked up at any given moment, for instance. It's as if they mind-melded...and found a balance between the both of their styles. An intriguing—and difficult!--feat to accomplish, for sure.

While this isn't my favorite retelling (I've read others this year a bit less confusing overall, a bit more intriguing), I enjoyed the read immensely, and found myself caught off-guard at several of the biggest plot twists. A definite must-read for lovers of Faust, Dr. Faustus, and Mephistopheles stories; this book will make you reconsider what it means to “sell your soul”...because it's something you do every day. Always.

thepiqht's review against another edition

3.0

I am forever apologies, but do you speak of moving picture show?

No, the book is not written like that (thank god), but it's just a little quote that made me fall completely and irrevocably in love with Bicé. Which is kind of odd since the whole book is meant to be about the ugliness of human nature, more on that in the third part of my review. On the whole review topic, how the hell does this have such negative reviews? Like yeah it has it's flaws but it wasn't that bad.

Things that Made Me Smile!

✓ The Sheer Wrongness

It's no secret that I adore antagonists, villains and just generally dreadful people; and so this book was right up my alley. The way these kids manipulated and tormented others around them, while getting manipulated and tormented themselves by their governess, made for a conflicted mindset. Do I feel sorry for them or not?

✓ The Powers

Some of the powers were so originally new? Like alright, reading people's minds and being beautiful is kind of cliché but the whole rewinding time thing? That was pretty damn cool, it wasn't even the power it was just how it was shown and not told. There were lovely little scenes that showed Valentin being utterly terrible to everyone around him only to fix it instantly without lifting a finger. Although, there was also a scene where he kind of helped out an 'uncool' person? That was kind of cute even though he didn't do it for the right reasons.

✓ Christian's Struggles

Okay, that looks weird when I type it like that. What I mean to say, is that I love how they humanise Christian with his interactions with buddy and his desperation to write. Yeah, I guess it wasn't extremely faustian but it made him more realistic than Belle (but also, she barely got any time outside of Thomas. Like ??? Is she not a character in her own right.)

Things that Made Me Frown(?)

✖︎ The Happy Ending

The book that this was based on was all about the ugly side of human nature, a side that isn't hard to find when you enter high school. Apparently this high school was an exception. Honestly, the characters in this could have been so much more grotesque than they actually were (I know this is kind of contradicting my first point, what I'm saying is that though it was nice – it didn't really follow the theme of the original. AKA the thing that it's liTERAlly named after).

elliotalderson's review

2.0

Another Faust is one of the most unique books I've read in a long time, if not ever. I don't recall having ever read a book that involved people, in this case kids/teenagers, selling their souls to the devil to get what they want. The unique plot line is what drew me to the story.

Unfortunately, overall the book was disappointing. Sometimes I found it difficult to follow all the different storylines of each character. Each character had their own ''gift'' from Madame Vileroy and sometimes it was hard for me to grasp what each character was doing. I had the most trouble following Christian's gift and his storyline. Valentin's gift was hard for me to follow but in the end it was explained better. It took me awhile to get into it. And by awhile I mean probably about 3/4 of the book. Once I hit Bice's parts, I wanted to read more. She was probably my favorite character and she didn't have enough of a storyline throughout the book until the end, in my opinion. The ending was somewhat disappointing. Things started to hit a climax and then all of a sudden it was over. I would have liked something more, more of an ending for the characters.

I was impressed with how the Nayeri's wrote the book. Everything was detailed. The book had a lot of mystery and suspense and it made me think, which I liked. I didn't know what was going to happen so it kept things suspenseful.

If you're looking for something light and fun, this book probably isn't for you. If you're looking to branch out from the usual fluffy romance, check it out.

kristid's review

2.0

This was an interesting read to say the least. I wasn’t aware when I first found the title was that the title was an extension of “Faustian bargains” or what I’ve always known it as– selling your soul to the devil. Perhaps I was alone in this revelation. I’ve seen it portrayed in literature and movies before, but this was an altogether take, which was refreshing.

I enjoyed the overall story, the manipulations, the deceit, the jealousy, makes you feel all warm in fuzzy inside to know what humans are capable of. But despite my intrigue with overall premise, at times I found the story to be tedious and sporadic. Parts of the story felt incomplete, while others were beautifully detailed.

And the ending for me, was completely anticlimactic. I found that I had a lot more questions than answers. Who really was Madame Vileroy and what was the point?

However, I did enjoyed the power of redemption that some of the characters ultimately achieved.

lmthompson's review

5.0

this book is different than almost every other book that i have read, in a good way. The ending isn't always happy.