Scan barcode
theglowcloud's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
auntiejamie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0
A cruel book full of Boomer logic and pearl-clutching. Tediously long and overbearing; the story, the places, and it's characters are not nearly as interesting as to justify this toilet paper scroll that is hellbent on telling you just what's wrong with "today's generation."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Violence
katy_alice's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
**Update for 2024 Reread**
I still think this book is a lot of fun, the mystery is twisty and dark and the movie stuff and multimedia elements remain the stars. That said, the book has not aged well. A 2024 reader will walk away with concerns about casual use of stereotypes, misogyny and body-shaming descriptions. And while I won’t apologize for my first review (I especially had no idea about the behaviors of the directors I mentioned), I read this book with more knowledge in my brain and a eye for the ways language, especially in genre books, can be casually offensive in ways that don’t enhance the development of characters or narratives.
****************
I want to keep this short, because every second you're reading this, you're not reading 'Night Film'.
This is a rare book that makes you wish it was nonfiction. Pessl creates such a fantastic and enigmatic figure in Cordova and his rabid fictional following that you wish his films were real and his world was ours. The mystery is compelling with great payoff. It's Hitchcock. It's Polanski. It's Kubrick. It's multimedia madness.
Read it.
I still think this book is a lot of fun, the mystery is twisty and dark and the movie stuff and multimedia elements remain the stars. That said, the book has not aged well. A 2024 reader will walk away with concerns about casual use of stereotypes, misogyny and body-shaming descriptions. And while I won’t apologize for my first review (I especially had no idea about the behaviors of the directors I mentioned), I read this book with more knowledge in my brain and a eye for the ways language, especially in genre books, can be casually offensive in ways that don’t enhance the development of characters or narratives.
****************
I want to keep this short, because every second you're reading this, you're not reading 'Night Film'.
This is a rare book that makes you wish it was nonfiction. Pessl creates such a fantastic and enigmatic figure in Cordova and his rabid fictional following that you wish his films were real and his world was ours. The mystery is compelling with great payoff. It's Hitchcock. It's Polanski. It's Kubrick. It's multimedia madness.
Read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Transphobia
ro_lux's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism
nicolinebl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a confusing but intriguing read. Honestly, just calling it that is underselling it; it was definitely an experience.
I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended.
It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled.
None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!
There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.
There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?
Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part.
Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!)
I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary andI hated that they had a whole supernatural plot, then decided to explain it all away and then afterwards sort of went back to the supernatural route.
I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all.
PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!
I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended.
It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled.
None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!
There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.
There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?
Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part.
Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!)
I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary and
I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all.
PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Trafficking, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, and Alcohol
metamorphoses's review against another edition
1.0
WHERE DO I BEGIN
First be warned : there's a shit ton of transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, racism and sexism in this book.
Second, I'm giving this 1 star out of pure spite. 600 fucking pages for THAT? That's it?? That's all?? I endured 600 pages of all the hate I listed above and long description of people walking or getting into cars or eating FOR THAT??
I hate everything and especially this fucking stupid sexist MC.
I'm DONE.
First be warned : there's a shit ton of transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, racism and sexism in this book.
Second, I'm giving this 1 star out of pure spite. 600 fucking pages for THAT? That's it?? That's all?? I endured 600 pages of all the hate I listed above and long description of people walking or getting into cars or eating FOR THAT??
I hate everything and especially this fucking stupid sexist MC.
I'm DONE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia