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A review by rknitss
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is a hard one to rate. I used to be a massive fan of the podcast but fell behind a few years ago in a "I'll start listening again any day now" sort of way. So while I had heard up to and slightly past the release of this book, my Night Vale lore is 1) out dated and 2) not exactly fresh in my mind.
I can imagine that the audiobook is phenomenal but I read the massive paperback. I enjoyed it a lot. As per Night Vale usual, I found a number of gut punching quotes. Now for the story:
This is a story about Diane Crayton, Jackie Fierro and a paper that says KING CITY. It's about parenthood, childhood, growing up and fear. It's about taking responsibility and about the danger of librarians.
I was surprised at how heavy the subject matters could get. For a non-specific, random example, we get a long interlude about racism and prejudice that felt like a slap to the face. There are many interludes.
All of that and I couldn't quite give it all 5 stars. This is a long (for me) book. It felt like the story goes on just a little too long and the early days of Diane and Jackie's interactions were teeth grating at best. It was definitely written that way on purpose, but it sucked some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I was also expecting it to be spookier, with more horror elements (be warned that this is NOT a horror-free book - there is Night Vale typical description of gore and monstrous beings, just less than I hoped for).
I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of the podcast and to people who like weird fiction in general who also don't mind not being in on every joke.
I can imagine that the audiobook is phenomenal but I read the massive paperback. I enjoyed it a lot. As per Night Vale usual, I found a number of gut punching quotes. Now for the story:
This is a story about Diane Crayton, Jackie Fierro and a paper that says KING CITY. It's about parenthood, childhood, growing up and fear. It's about taking responsibility and about the danger of librarians.
I was surprised at how heavy the subject matters could get. For a non-specific, random example, we get a long interlude about racism and prejudice that felt like a slap to the face. There are many interludes.
All of that and I couldn't quite give it all 5 stars. This is a long (for me) book. It felt like the story goes on just a little too long and the early days of Diane and Jackie's interactions were teeth grating at best. It was definitely written that way on purpose, but it sucked some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I was also expecting it to be spookier, with more horror elements (be warned that this is NOT a horror-free book - there is Night Vale typical description of gore and monstrous beings, just less than I hoped for).
I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of the podcast and to people who like weird fiction in general who also don't mind not being in on every joke.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Racism, and Blood