Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Night – Nacht der Angst

This is by no means the best book I’ve ever read, but boy, was I entertained! I read it in a single day because I simply couldn’t put it down. A quick and fun (though dark) read which will keep you on your toes, even if the book has some flaws.

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marleens's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

2.5

I like the setting and concept of the plot. A ride with a total stranger, two people confined in a car, things start to feel weird. I feel that this could have been so much better though… I liked some of the twists but definitely not all of them, some felt a bit contrived. And I *really* didn’t like some parts of the ending. And Charlie and the way her mind works didn’t do it for me either.
Might give another Riley Sager a try though, because the initial concept was good.

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tabby09's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

First half was a bit slower, all just in the car. The second half was fast paced.

Charlie continually made some irritating choices to further the plot. It being set in the early 90s made it more realistic though, since there weren't cell phones. The premise was fun and the twists at the end were interesting.

I listened to this on audiobook. It was single narration and I liked the narrator's performance.

I don't know how I feel about the "movie in her mind" aspect. Grief is prevalent throughout the book.

I really enjoyed the book, but I also have a lot of little nitpicks. This one requires you suspend reality for a bit while reading it. Thoughts:

Josh messing with her in the car so much doesn't really make sense in hindsight. All the dialogue and build up with Josh in the car doesn't even really apply in the end.

Robbie being able to just transition to killing her so easy was comical. I would have liked more emotional discussion there. More importantly, WHY would this supposedly genius serial killer man leave his STILL BLOODY pliers and the box of teeth in his unlocked car compartment?? Also was super easy for her to be drowned for a while, but still get out of the submerged car.

The ending part about some of it being in the movie and not real life was kind of a weird twist too, idk if that was necessary. Like the red coat and the locations being embellished, why? I guess to go along with the movie theme.

Some lifetime movie vibes. Kind of ridiculous, but a fun time.

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brisievenpiper's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

SYNOPSIS

It is 1991. Charlie is a college student. Her friend, Maddy, was murdered, and Charlie is having a rough time processing her friend’s death. Charlie decides she needs to withdraw from school & return home.
Since Charlie doesn’t have a car, she posts her information on a “ride board” at school, indicating she is looking for a ride back to Ohio. A handsome man offers to give her a ride, and she decides it’s a great idea.

MY THOUGHTS

Ughhh, Riley! Please stop writing women protagonists.
Even women who haven’t recently had a friend murdered do not navigate the world like Charlie does. Oh, it wasn’t just having a friend recently murdered BTW – her campus has someone they’ve affectionately nicknamed “the Campus Killer”, as he preys on young women & murders them. So, obviously, the best place to find a ride is said campus from a stranger.
I didn’t like how Sager wrote about Charlie’s delusions. They were not relatable as well because it felt completely made up & not science=based. She “sees” movies in her mind, and she has a hard time differentiating between what a movie is in her mind versus real life.
None of the characters are very deep. They simply lack development.
Everything felt really artificial, and this is Sager’s weakest one yet.
Not a satisfying ending.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️yikes, unrealistically written woman protagonist.

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marissa_nancy_nicole's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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kaitspen13's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy cow! You may think you have it figured out but at most you are only fractionally correct. This book had me guessing the whole time, including questioning what was real. Sager has done it again and kept the twists coming. I loved the ending and felt it tied up the story perfectly.

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