Reviews tagging 'Grief'
The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink
7 reviews
onemamareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Gore, and Death of parent
jqmnew's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
ippoteq's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Personally, I think its cool that Cranor and Fink and trying to get away from the Night Vale concept as it exists within the podcast. I just wish they could do that entirely instead of partially. This book could have been a standalone novel in its own right without the weird references to keep it in theming with the Night Vale universe, for example
Spoiler
the country where no-one lives but which produces the best artI didn't particularly enjoy our protagonist either. I'm not sure if it is the way she's written, or the fact that the narrative constantly tries to justify her, but I found her behaviour incredibly frustrating.
Spoiler
When she discovers her uncle has been using her, rather than try and reconnect to her father by abandoning that life, and living out her days how he would have wanted, she again decides to trample his memory by going to out to kill again? Why?If this book had been in no way related to the Night Vale universe, I think I would have enjoyed it more, and it would have given Cranor and Fink more freedom to write something at least a little more serious. I also think that, with the book being set in the 1800s, the language they chose to use felt quite odd. It was very typical American speech patterns and dialogue for the most part, which I get is for ease of reading, but some of the wording choices really pulled me out of the time period.
In all, I did manage to finish the book in a couple of days, but I found myself pretty dissatisfied, both with the ending and also looking at it as a Night Vale novel. I think if you've never listened to Night Vale and could ignore some of the weird references, you could possibly enjoy this book, but it really wasn't for me.
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Murder
librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spoiler
the lengths to which Edmond worked to completely destroy not only the narrator's father's legacy, but the narrator herself are impressive and obsessive in equal measure. The effort he put in, in making sure she would never have joy, have a future, or know her family is astounding, and the revelation about lady Nora is so heartbreaking. The authors did an incredible job making the reader love the narrator even as we watched her become what she becomes. She genuinely loves Edmund's heirs right up until the moment they have a son of their own. Her sense of reality is so twisted and her need for revenge so entrenched that the cyclical nature of her revenge is both astounding and understandable. I really enjoyed that we got to see little Josefina and her angels make the faceless old woman feel welcome for the first time in a long time. After everything, Night Vale is the only place where she could belong.Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Grief, and Suicide
theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Antisemitism, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Alcoholism
lindseyrenee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
avatarjini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Anybody that hasn't engaged in the world of Night Vale before this will find it an easy book to get into, and no prior information of Night Vale is required to sink your teeth into the story. Those who are familiar with Night Vale will only find themselves more enthralled with the Faceless Old Woman and the journey that brought her to Night Vale.
I listened to the audiobook , narrated by the bold and calculating voice of Mara Wilson, the original voice for the Faceless Old Woman, who does the story justice, as we all knew she would. I would even recommend the audiobook, as having the Faceless Old Woman narrate her own story is a delight to listen to.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Suicide