Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Universal Harvester

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

8 reviews

mariaranger98's review

sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I started this book to get back into reading. It’s pretty short so it’s not daunting. At the start. I was super interested and could hardly put it down. The change in perspectives helped hold the tension. However, I felt like there were some plot lines left unresolved and it was a bit anticlimactic. I still enjoyed it enough, but I probably wouldn’t re-read it. Marketing it as a horror novel is a bit misleading as well. It’s more about grief/loss of a parent.

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moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

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reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I read the first third or so of this a couple of years ago and stopped just because life happened. I picked up The audiobook on a whim and read it all in one night and it was quite the time.

I'm not sure that I've totally wrapped my head around the book completely. This strange story is told going between characters and between times. There were fourth wall breaks and explorations of how things may have gone differently, as well as insight on grief and memory. Thematically, there are a lot of profound things to unpack. However, if you are a plot person, you will come out of it far more unsettled that I am. There are a lot of everyday "plotless" points in order to (in theory) discover what is behind the mystery of the tapes.

I feel like this is one I'm going to have to process and maybe reread to totally get it (and there were enough compelling bits that I would like to). I had an interesting time with it nonetheless.

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necroplasm's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

all i can really say about this book is that it's definitely the kind of story you'd expect to see from the guy that wrote no children! i wasn't expecting it to be Like That going into it and i wasn't really prepared for all that but it's a great read if you want to feel sad and have a slight existential crisis 👍

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retswerb's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

If you’re looking for a horror book, Universal Harvester probably wont scratch that itch. It’s creepy, and there’s a bit of a mystery, but it’s really about people and a place and grief and relationships - observed by someone who loves that place and respects those people and their griefs and understands their relationships. Darnielle’s authorial voice is bound to be polarizing; I found it riveting. This one will stick with me for a bit.

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