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2.01k reviews by:
ninetalevixen
RTC.
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CONVERSION: 12.2 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 7 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
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CONVERSION: 12.2 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 7 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
Another one that holds up fantastically well upon rereading. I marked up my Kindle copy with lots of notes and highlights; full review to come once I've finished the series probably.
content warnings: precanon parent deaths, brainwashing, memory tampering
rep: major characters with narcolepsy, wheelchair-using major character, Black (Zambian) minor character, Desi minor character
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CONVERSION: 13.05 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 9 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 5 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
content warnings:
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CONVERSION: 13.05 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 9 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 5 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
RTC.
content warnings:
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CONVERSION: 11.67 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
content warnings:
Spoiler
rep:
Spoiler
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CONVERSION: 11.67 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
"They took a long moment to absorb this new reality, and then, like good Night Vale citizens, categorized it as unexplainable and set it aside forever."
As someone who's only listened to a handful of the podcast episodes, I wasn't altogether sure what to expect from this book. By the time I finished it, I still wasn't altogether sure what to make of it.
There's just so much going on in and around Night Vale; I'm sure you could read all kinds of allegory and metaphor into any seemingly irrelevant "throwaway" detail. (I caught a few bits of sociopolitical commentary even without trying.) Still, there's a clear main storyline with recognizable parts (rising action, climax, etc.), distinct characters, and an interesting setting. It is definitely a novel, and a fairly memorable one at that.
But if you just want to read Welcome to Night Vale as an unsettling, wacky-weird book, you could do that equally easily — I wouldn't call it a "light read" by any rubric, but it doesn't force you to take it more seriously than it takes itself. Which is not much. Or maybe a lot. (There's a lot of self-contradiction in this narrative.)
IDK, hopefully that all made sense. Because this book didn't really, but in a mostly-good way.
rep: bi/pan MC, biracial MC, MLM minor characters, M/M background relationship
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CONVERSION: 12.2 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 10 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 5 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 5 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
As someone who's only listened to a handful of the podcast episodes, I wasn't altogether sure what to expect from this book. By the time I finished it, I still wasn't altogether sure what to make of it.
There's just so much going on in and around Night Vale; I'm sure you could read all kinds of allegory and metaphor into any seemingly irrelevant "throwaway" detail. (I caught a few bits of sociopolitical commentary even without trying.) Still, there's a clear main storyline with recognizable parts (rising action, climax, etc.), distinct characters, and an interesting setting. It is definitely a novel, and a fairly memorable one at that.
But if you just want to read Welcome to Night Vale as an unsettling, wacky-weird book, you could do that equally easily — I wouldn't call it a "light read" by any rubric, but it doesn't force you to take it more seriously than it takes itself. Which is not much. Or maybe a lot. (There's a lot of self-contradiction in this narrative.)
IDK, hopefully that all made sense. Because this book didn't really, but in a mostly-good way.
rep:
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CONVERSION: 12.2 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 10 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 5 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 5 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
2.5 stars
Well. Basically all my friends love this book, so if you're thinking you might be interested, I would recommend reading some of their reviews instead of my rainstorm on the parade.
But my reviews have always been honest above all, so here goes.
I actually read [b:The Boy Who Steals Houses|40170373|The Boy Who Steals Houses|C.G. Drews|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548416923l/40170373._SY75_.jpg|62315086] first, and liked it more, but even in TBWSH I distinctly remember a lot of the same things I don't like in ATPN — hallmarks of the author's style. (It should go without saying, but I don't mean that they're bad. Just not for me.)
The prose in general — a lot of the figurative language didn't seem to fit the tone/context of the scene, and I was annoyed by how frequently
a sentence
is
chopped up
for dramatic
effect.
(I thought it was really cool the first couple of times I came across it, but like glitter it's most effective in very limited quantities ... and annoying in excess.)
Something about the pacing felt off to me, which prevented me from getting totally immersed in the plot; something also prevented me from getting invested in the characters, which was disappointing. As someone who had a love/hate relationship with piano (especially practicing the pieces I was assigned, though thankfully neither my teacher nor my mother were abusive) and with bilingualism, I wanted to empathize with Beck. I really did. But he never resonated with me as a fully-fledged character; I found August a bit too quirky; and honestly their relationship didn't seem wholly organic to me.
The resolution? To be quite blunt, I almost laughed because I just found it all too much that; the last chapter had the finality but not the satisfaction of a traditional ending chord-progression.
All that said — I can appreciate the premise and broad strokes of the plot, the motifs and themes. Some scenes were almost physically painful to read: some heartbreaking, some heartwarming. I know this book means a lot to many people, and I am glad for them even if I can't relate.
content warnings:
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CONVERSION: 6.53 / 15 = 2.5 stars
Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 4 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 5 / 10
Setting: 2 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: 1 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
Well. Basically all my friends love this book, so if you're thinking you might be interested, I would recommend reading some of their reviews instead of my rainstorm on the parade.
But my reviews have always been honest above all, so here goes.
I actually read [b:The Boy Who Steals Houses|40170373|The Boy Who Steals Houses|C.G. Drews|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548416923l/40170373._SY75_.jpg|62315086] first, and liked it more, but even in TBWSH I distinctly remember a lot of the same things I don't like in ATPN — hallmarks of the author's style. (It should go without saying, but I don't mean that they're bad. Just not for me.)
The prose in general — a lot of the figurative language didn't seem to fit the tone/context of the scene, and I was annoyed by how frequently
a sentence
is
chopped up
for dramatic
effect.
(I thought it was really cool the first couple of times I came across it, but like glitter it's most effective in very limited quantities ... and annoying in excess.)
Something about the pacing felt off to me, which prevented me from getting totally immersed in the plot; something also prevented me from getting invested in the characters, which was disappointing. As someone who had a love/hate relationship with piano (especially practicing the pieces I was assigned, though thankfully neither my teacher nor my mother were abusive) and with bilingualism, I wanted to empathize with Beck. I really did. But he never resonated with me as a fully-fledged character; I found August a bit too quirky; and honestly their relationship didn't seem wholly organic to me.
The resolution? To be quite blunt, I almost laughed because I just found it all too much that
Spoiler
the boy named after Beethoven partially loses his hearing in the end, as he starts to come into his own as a composerAll that said — I can appreciate the premise and broad strokes of the plot, the motifs and themes. Some scenes were almost physically painful to read: some heartbreaking, some heartwarming. I know this book means a lot to many people, and I am glad for them even if I can't relate.
content warnings:
Spoiler
physical & emotional child abuse, graphic violence, blood, fantasies of self-mutilation, mentions of animal cruelty (frogs, dogs)-----------
CONVERSION: 6.53 / 15 = 2.5 stars
Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 4 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 5 / 10
Setting: 2 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: 1 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
I'll admit I'm picky about my Beauty & the Beast adaptations and retellings — partly because it's been done so many times and partly because Belle was the Disney princess I related to most. So while I wouldn't say this was awful, it certainly isn't my favorite take.
The resemblances to the original fairy tale feel incidental rather than purposeful: like when two books just happen to use similar sets of tropes. (Except for a few scenes that will be immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the Disney animation.) There are some common themes and motifs, but the former in particular are too heavy-handed for my liking, repeated every few chapters in cheesy dialogue.
And honestly, I wasn't really into the plot. The premise is interesting, but the narrative soon veers sharply into a romance where everything else becomes background noise. It almost felt like there wasn't conflict outside of repeated failures to communicate; the pacing was also uneven, so the first two-thirds felt like all exposition, leaving the majority of the action and resolution to be crammed into the end. The epilogue, in my opinion, was also unnecessary.
content warnings:
rep:
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CONVERSION: 5.9 / 15 = 2 stars
Prose: 3 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 2 / 10
Setting: 4 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: N/A
The resemblances to the original fairy tale feel incidental rather than purposeful: like when two books just happen to use similar sets of tropes. (Except for a few scenes that will be immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the Disney animation.) There are some common themes and motifs, but the former in particular are too heavy-handed for my liking, repeated every few chapters in cheesy dialogue.
And honestly, I wasn't really into the plot. The premise is interesting, but the narrative soon veers sharply into a romance where everything else becomes background noise. It almost felt like there wasn't conflict outside of repeated failures to communicate; the pacing was also uneven, so the first two-thirds felt like all exposition, leaving the majority of the action and resolution to be crammed into the end. The epilogue, in my opinion, was also unnecessary.
content warnings:
Spoiler
ableism, sexual harassment, minor gore, bloodrep:
Spoiler
implied-Black MC, chronically ill & physically disfigured MC, wheelchair-bound Asian secondary character, Latinx minor characters-----------
CONVERSION: 5.9 / 15 = 2 stars
Prose: 3 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 2 / 10
Setting: 4 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: N/A
RTC.
content warnings:
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CONVERSION: 11.53 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 5 / 5
content warnings:
Spoiler
rep:
Spoiler
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CONVERSION: 11.53 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 5 / 5
RTC.
content warnings:
rep:
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CONVERSION: 11.53 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 3/ 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 4 / 5
content warnings:
Spoiler
rep:
Spoiler
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CONVERSION: 11.53 / 15 = 4 stars
Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 3/ 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 4 / 5
"'It's fine,' I said, drawing from the sane, imaginary place in my head, where no one was brutally killed down the hall and my only friend deigned to tell me the barest facts about her life."
Look, I've read (and watched) a lot of Sherlock Holmes retellings, but after finishing the last season of Elementary I had a mighty need. Which this fulfilled nicely — I stayed up until 3am reading even though I should've been studying for finals and I knew perfectly well that I had to get up earlyish the next morning.
This is a delightful variation: as descendants of the famous duo, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are wholly believable as modern teenagers trying to live up to the legacies of their respective families. Nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (or John Watson's sotries, as they're presented in this book) are littered throughout — I wouldn't say that Jamie and Charlotte's first case is nearly as convoluted, but it's a fun adventure nonetheless.
I think I blinked and missed the part where Jamie and Charlotte become friends; it feels like I just turned the page and their early infatuation/animosity, respectively, had been sidelined if not forgotten. But other than the awkward transition, I really loved their banter and teamwork, and the way they actually talk about their feelings. Romance does enter into the equation, but at this point they're first and foremost friends/partners in crime, and physical intimacy seems to be just a matter of time rather than a "will they/won't they" drawn out for drama , which I really enjoyed. And so many other nuanced relationships are shown in this book, too, though of course the Holmes/Watson partnership is the big draw.
All that said, this fits pretty comfortably into the genre of YA boarding school mystery. Not a bad thing, but with the major caveat that some of the more serious topics (such as the Holmes family's, and more specifically Charlotte's, history of addiction and drug abuse; Charlotte being sexually assaulted while under the influence; Jamie's family situation; Jamie's and Charlotte's "out of place" / "in between" feeling from dividing their time between London and Connecticut ) aren't fully explored ... but there are more books in the series, so I'm willing to suspend judgment for now.
content warnings: drug abuse & addiction, mentions of sexual assault (while victim is under the influence of drugs), blood, emotional manipulation, mentions of child neglect
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CONVERSION: 12.95 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 10 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5
Look, I've read (and watched) a lot of Sherlock Holmes retellings, but after finishing the last season of Elementary I had a mighty need. Which this fulfilled nicely — I stayed up until 3am reading even though I should've been studying for finals and I knew perfectly well that I had to get up earlyish the next morning.
This is a delightful variation: as descendants of the famous duo, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are wholly believable as modern teenagers trying to live up to the legacies of their respective families. Nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (or John Watson's sotries, as they're presented in this book) are littered throughout — I wouldn't say that Jamie and Charlotte's first case is nearly as convoluted, but it's a fun adventure nonetheless.
I think I blinked and missed the part where Jamie and Charlotte become friends; it feels like I just turned the page and their early infatuation/animosity, respectively, had been sidelined if not forgotten. But other than the awkward transition, I really loved their banter and teamwork, and the way they actually talk about their feelings. Romance does enter into the equation, but
All that said, this fits pretty comfortably into the genre of YA boarding school mystery. Not a bad thing, but with the major caveat that some of the more serious topics (such as
content warnings:
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CONVERSION: 12.95 / 15 = 4.5 stars
Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 9 / 10
Development / Flow: 10 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5