Reviews - The Night Watch | The StoryGraph

806 reviews for:

Interesting narrative format, was fun to discuss in class. If looking at it from a purely entertainment aspect, it was alright, I was very bored. Yet intrigued. The book took too long in my opinion to get to the good part. But it's a good one if you are one for character driven plots and LGBTQ characters in the midst of the World War aftermath. Keep in mind though that the book focuses more on the "domestic" war fronts rather than your traditional battlefields and gore. The trauma is definitely there though.

mrhanson's review against another edition

5.0

Just a great book. Setting, character, and plot are all carefully constructed and artfully intertwined. The device of telling the story backwards in time, while still escalating the tension of an essentially character-driven book, was executed very well.

slippy_underfoot's review against another edition

4.0

That was excellent, my second Sarah Waters book. Evocation of the time and place was perfect, and the sense of grasping for beauty in the ruins of a city was palpable

vilma_ellen's review against another edition

3.0

challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

kozlowsk_a's review against another edition

4.0

4.5

jennifermreads's review against another edition

1.0

This one crossed my radar as it was selected by my local newspaper for a read-along/book club. I didn't receive my library copy until after all the reader comments were published ... I should have read the comments before I read the book. If I had read comments first, it would have confirmed my "I really should stop reading this" instinct.

The story is told backwards: 1947, 1944, 1940. It shows how interconnected our lives are even if we are not aware of the connection. The only part of the book I truly found amazing was the descriptions of the bombings in London. The detail was so precise I felt like I was there in the middle of the destruction.

At the end, I was left with a feeling of "Huh?" I wonder what the author's point was and why she decided to tell the story backwards. Ultimately though, it was the lack of character development that had me struggling to finish this one.