Reviews

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

homiejess's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

pastelhellion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Solidly written, but I felt I had no idea where things were going for a good portion. However, Darnielle paints a vivid picture of rural Iowa and creates such a string nostalgia for the time of VCRs, Oldsmobiles and dial-up internet. 

Presents as a horror novel and it is tense for a while, but then slowly morphs into a story of grief and loss. Not quite sure it hit the mark but I did enjoy watching it unfold. 

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

1.0

Should be retitled “Universal Dumpster”. What a sorry excuse for a “horror” novel. It was a blessing this book was so short or I would’ve stopped reading it. Even at that it took me three months of putting it down and picking it back up and slogging through 10 pages. Just phenomenally uninteresting. The main plot point about mysterious film segments showing up in the middle of rented video tapes was promisingly intriguing and then became nonsensical and unimportant. The book dragged and then dragged some more. A huge letdown after a really good rookie effort, Wolf in White Van. And certainly not scary or creepy. Just stupid.

itsyogirl's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

ghamblock1's review

5.0

My favorite John Danielle book. It really conveyed the power of story to approach the seemingly unapproachable and make peace with it.

redvelvetpenguins's review

3.0

Swing and a miss. I truly do not understand

staplerscissors's review

2.0

Oh... so it's not a horror novel. just one about loss and searching.

brandongryder's review

1.0

Blech. Can't believe I even finished this.

kaymarieplz's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I wish the stories had been presented in a different order. It was hard to keep track and added to the confusion of what the point of it all really was. I was let down by the ending 

alexzreads's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

It was kind of a hard read for me, one of those books you just have to keep pushing through even though it’s confusing at times. It all comes together in the end.