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aurabora 's review for:
Wolf In White Van
by John Darnielle
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decidedly a not-for-me book, in that I normally don't even pick up Lit Fic. I thought the plot sounded interesting, incorporating the RPG into the lives of the characters, which could have given big "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" vibes. I also wanted a Memento-like travel backwards in the plot, but I guessed the big "incident" almost immediately. And frankly, everything seemed far less interesting once you realize Sean's failed suicide attempt is the impetus for everything. Actually, the most shocking thing in the whole book was that he originally wanted to kill his parents first too.
The whole thing felt underdeveloped, unable to really explain the why of the tragedy or get you to empathize with the MC at all. The conceit is that there's this young man able to conceptualize the branching narratives in life, which different paths you could take, and yet the only thing he can think to do in his own life iscommit acts of violence. There is something REALLY gross about this, and something REALLY wrong with Sean...he's not just some Sad Boi. Ugh an awful taste left in your mouth at the end of the book.
I wanted more discussion about the 2 kids who died trying to play his games IRL, more impact to the continued destruction Sean leaves in his wake. I wanted more of the relationships between Sean & his HS friends, plus the 'friends' he makes through running the game. I also mostly hated how the game was represented, and I'm not sure if this was just an audiobook problem? What the hell were those huge long lists of places just repeated ad nauseum? Were there visuals to go along with those in the book, at least?!?
So...yeah. Just read Tomorrow x3 instead.
(I also had no idea who the author was until I read other reviews. I listened to his narration of the audiobook, and... meh. Can't say he brings much to it.)
The whole thing felt underdeveloped, unable to really explain the why of the tragedy or get you to empathize with the MC at all. The conceit is that there's this young man able to conceptualize the branching narratives in life, which different paths you could take, and yet the only thing he can think to do in his own life is
I wanted more discussion about the 2 kids who died trying to play his games IRL, more impact to the continued destruction Sean leaves in his wake. I wanted more of the relationships between Sean & his HS friends, plus the 'friends' he makes through running the game. I also mostly hated how the game was represented, and I'm not sure if this was just an audiobook problem? What the hell were those huge long lists of places just repeated ad nauseum? Were there visuals to go along with those in the book, at least?!?
So...yeah. Just read Tomorrow x3 instead.
(I also had no idea who the author was until I read other reviews. I listened to his narration of the audiobook, and... meh. Can't say he brings much to it.)