A review by jarnbooks
Welcome to Night Vale by Jeffrey Cranor, Joseph Fink

adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It was interesting. It starts out really fast getting right into the main plot then slows down as the characters try to solve the mystery. Which isn’t solved until the last 5 chapters. 

The characters are fun but there’s no growth until the last chapter. But the relationships are fun to read. Which brings me to one of my favorite bits: no shoved in romantic subplot. 

The story is very simple overall and took some crazy turns (which makes sense in Night Vale). But the main thing that I didn’t like was the writing style. Running gags are set up very early in the book and as it goes, they get tiring. One of the things I got tired of was “Character goes here. They know it was here because the sign said “here”.” Lots of pointing out the obvious. On the other hand, the metaphors used are never explained leaving it up to reader what is meant, which is very fun in most cases. 

As an avid listener of the podcast, you don’t need any previous info to read this but there are a lot of fun non-relevant Easter eggs and references that were a joy to see. 

The main gripe I have with this book is that it could’ve been a lot shorter. Maybe a hundred pages or so. 
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