Reviews

Night. Sleep. Death. the Stars. by Joyce Carol Oates

aasnur's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

magis1105's review against another edition

1.5

Not for me.
This is a character driven story and these people... Just infuriate me so much that it felt like I had to force myself to get back to it. The fact that it was in audio format was the only reason I stuck to it for so long.

tricialh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

4.0

mbagel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.0

bericson13's review against another edition

3.0

I...I can't decide how I felt about this. I debated 4 stars, because it was really a good story. But so many things felt unresolved to me. The story of Virgil needed more resolution. Sophie felt as though her storyline was never one that seemed to be fully cared about. The accusations against the police should have gone farther, since that's where the entire story started. I just...I liked the story, and the writing, most of the time, but I was frustrated by what felt like a lack of resolution.

sephlav's review against another edition

4.0

If you’re a reader that goes for plot driven stories, this book probably isn’t for you. However, if you’re a reader that enjoys gorgeous prose, intelligent writing, deep, complex, and vivid characterization, and encapsulates the very experience it is to be human, this book might be for you. It was a little slow at times and there was definitely some effort required sorting through some of the sections where scenes were being switched from paragraph to paragraph, but the book overall was just very real and raw and heartbreaking. Oates went straight for the jugular and they did not miss.

nlh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• 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

4.0

zeldazonk's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

readers_block's review against another edition

2.0

2.5/5

i really really didn’t like this book. JCO has always been hit or miss for me — some books i love — and this was just a huge miss. i couldn’t find a single character i liked, except maybe for whitey, and he’s dead for the whole book. i could scream if i had to read one more paragraph about how scared jessalyn was of being alive, or how resentful beverly was of her suburban life, or just one more god damn parenthesis, for the love of god.

pageshifter's review against another edition

4.0

I could relate to characters but it felt strange how main characters' family members were barely mentioned. I think they should have been quite big part of characters' lives and leaving them out was strange.

This didn't go under my skin even though I loved to follow how everyone went through their sorrow.

I loved the writing but wasn't happy with the ending. Which didn't exist. I didn't like how this ended like it would have been suddenly decided "okay, I don't want to continue writing this anymore". It's true that nothing during life is complete but I hated how some characters were still in the exactly same situation when this ended. It was frustrating.

This was really pleasurable and easy to read.