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deadflytrachea's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
1.0
First and foremost, I have to give credit to the author for the clear amount of effort she put into the book. The extra media elements found online such as Professor Beckman's Syllabus and the trailers for Cordova's films made it feel more real, more of a spectacle.
However, this effort doesn't save how obnoxious I found the main character Scott McGrath to be. He made somewhat misogynistic remarks twice early in the book that I gave pass to simply because I figured the author was deliberately making him this way because the author is a woman.
However, the completely unnecessary bout of transphobia when he was at The Oubliette nearly ruined the experience. It didn't mean anything, it was just there for genuinely no reason, except what? Make it clear Scott is an asshole? We already knew that considering how poorly he treats most people around him and how cynical he is.
The author makes several bizarre passing remarks about any characters who weren't white, cis, well-educated etc. It felt like they were caricatures only existing to further the white male character's journey. While yes he grows as a father, he doesn't grow outside of that, the "found family" of Scott, Nora, and Hopper did not feel fulfilling or warranted.
and Cordova! The entire message behind him seems to be that he is a tortured genius, that his art and the terrible things he does is justified because he is the only person "brave" enough to go into as much depth for the passion of his art. It's so uninspired and boring.
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
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
kristareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, and Transphobia
Moderate: Child death and Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury
judassilver's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
cowboyaj's review against another edition
2.0
i'm sorry...but he literally said the chicken in a chinese restaurant was PROBABLY CAT??
man fuck this book.
man fuck this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Transphobia
axdixon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
mxpringle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
My opinions on this book are very complicated. At the beginning, I loved the format of the story and the plot had me on the edge of my seat. I think the way that Pessl crafted this story was truly masterful in that the reader is never quite sure what the reality is. However, as the book went on, I began to become frustrated with how it felt like nothing had really been uncovered in the investigation that was occurring in the book. I felt like I was being led on. In addition, so much of the book was filled with racism, sexism, and transphobia all perpetrated by the protagonist, whose authority on these matters was never questioned. As a trans person, the demonization of trans women in horror for a simple "creep factor" is getting very archaic, and Pessl's use of that trope disgusted me. In addition, the bizarre and unnecessary romance between the middle aged protagonist and his teenage assistant left me feeling slimy and uncomfortable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Mental illness and Medical content
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
illuminatedspace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
1.0
I think when I read this book, I'm to believe that the main character is kind of a sexist, homophobic, transphobic, racist pos as a character flaw. However these views of the character are expressed so casually, explicitly, and often over this 600 page book I couldn't help but feel I was being indoctrinated with these garbage views. The lack of challenge the main character faces for these views is distracting over the length of the book. Nearly every non-white, non-cis male supporting character is described with harmful, uncharitable, and frankly boring stereotypes. This harmful depiction is reinforced by the fact that the characters do not say or do anything to challenge the initial description, not does anyone around the main character. This happened so consistently I couldn't help but wonder if the author also held these views or if they had just failed to create an unlikable/unreliable main character. The result was instead an unlikable world. Not challenging, or thought provoking but flat, informed by stereotypes and lacking nuance. I suppose the depth of the world is supposed to come from the lengths of depravity and pain people are willing to inflict on each other, but the cynicism of this worldview doesn't seem deserved?
The mystery was also kind of boring to me.the mystery is kind of laid out early in the book and all the evidence gathering just confirms what was already told. Until the last 100 pages of the book when the biggest confirmation of evidence could possibly be a hallucination and the motivation could have been something else but maybe it's all real and maybe it isn't . But the question of what really happened didn't feel like a fun puzzle to solve for me.
The mixed media elements are novel but not integral to telling the story.
If the book was shorter it may have been higher rated for me. It's not unreadable, but I hardly enjoyed any of the time I spent reading the book and nearly quit several times. I stayed for the resolution which in my opinion didn't really pay off and the denumont was so incredibly drawn out it felt like the book was ending 5 times before the actual last page. The climax was a bit of a page turner but the main character seemed to turn into a different person and some of their actions that provided the most dramatic situations seemed unmotivated. That paired with the fact thatthe most interesting parts may have been a poisonous plant hallucination wasn't enough to save the book for me.
The mystery was also kind of boring to me.
The mixed media elements are novel but not integral to telling the story.
If the book was shorter it may have been higher rated for me. It's not unreadable, but I hardly enjoyed any of the time I spent reading the book and nearly quit several times. I stayed for the resolution which in my opinion didn't really pay off and the denumont was so incredibly drawn out it felt like the book was ending 5 times before the actual last page. The climax was a bit of a page turner but the main character seemed to turn into a different person and some of their actions that provided the most dramatic situations seemed unmotivated. That paired with the fact that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
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