Reviews

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

starioted's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

trinasaurus33's review against another edition

DNF at 27%. I thought this was going to be a mystery/thriller but it turned out to be a paranormal, which unfortunately isn't really my genre of book. I might pick this up eventually and try again, who knows!

diziet's review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.25

Had difficulty keeping attention on this story. Some good parts - and overall ideas are interesting. But execution is lacking. Every time I got interested in character or events it fizzled out in talk and descriptions and slow plot development. And then I lost the thread of narrative. 

After a strong start it just got boring and I never developed an investment in what happened to characters. Female narrator is difficult to hear clearly, so I also kept having to turn volume up and down. Took me way long to finish. 

Perhaps it was too long for the short story it really was? Perhaps it works better when reading, not listening. 

Author tells in postscript that this is 3rd version of book/idea - so perhaps reason for some of weaknesses? 

carrie1788's review against another edition

1.0

DNF at 23%. I’m listening to the book and the guy is great. The woman sounds like Jane Lynch whispering and mumbling. I can’t keep anything straight. The male narrator does both Nate and Oliver but makes no distinction between the two so it’s hard to tell whose POV you’re in. And the excessive amount of onomatopoeia really takes me out of the story. I won’t lie, the male narrator does a good job making the sounds but I do not need to have the sound effects described to me.

“Something ricocheted off the back gate, tink, tink.”

shrewdbard's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

3.5

3.5 stars. Reminded me of It, but with no creepy orgy scene. This was very Stephen King, down to the meditations on the cycle of abuse and pain (micro and macro), the world-hopping origins of horror, and corny dialogue that will age very badly. Actually, the dialogue was more Joss Whedon, since it was all bad 2000s memey slang - cringey, but preferable to whatever it is King has going on.

I rated this 3.5 instead of 3 stars because twists were all very, very well established, and pretty much every loose end was tied up nicely at the end. I highly recommend this if your taste in horror is more adventurous, like, Stranger Things and less mind-numbing-can’t-sleep-afterwards stuff.

on_your_raedar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It's a solid book if you are a Stephen King fan, you can see the influence a lot. I am not a Stephen King fan so it didn't land with me. The writing was good enough to want to finish, so that's something.

booksonawire's review against another edition

5.0

It's my first from this author, so I was a bit unsure what I was going into. I thought it was your traditional haunted house, but it was so much more. It felt like a hybrid with horror, folklore, and science fiction. Definitely original, unique, and memorable. At times it went over my head and the middle got a little laggy but I was definitely invested.

cdbaker's review against another edition

4.0

I quite enjoyed this, although I found the beginning creepy enough that I had to only listen to it while it was daytime and I was running errands. After I got past a certain 'tipping point' where I knew enough about what was going on though, I basically finished it in one sitting.

I'm not 100% satisfied with the ending (a me-problem for sure), but I thought it was really interesting!

There is a lot of child abuse stuff in here though, which you should know before you start in case that's super triggering.

swilson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

icarooster's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25