Night Film in Busy as a Bee Books

Jul 13, 2024 Queralt✨ rated it liked it · review of another edition

I’m not usually into thrillers so I was a bit intimidated by the length of this book, but I do think describing it as a ‘page-turning thriller’ is very accurate. I thought it was fun and one of these stories you keep reading compulsively, but the characters were sort of flat and I do think it was maybe a bit too long (and pretentious sometimes). The paranormal aspect of the book is what hooked me in, but I do like horror more than mystery stuff, and I enjoyed the ominous feeling that something a I’m not usually into thrillers so I was a bit intimidated by the length of this book, but I do think describing it as a ‘page-turning thriller’ is very accurate. I thought it was fun and one of these stories you keep reading compulsively, but the characters were sort of flat and I do think it was maybe a bit too long (and pretentious sometimes). The paranormal aspect of the book is what hooked me in, but I do like horror more than mystery stuff, and I enjoyed the ominous feeling that something awful was happening and all this breadcrumb-following would lead us to answers (ha!).

Fun-wise, this deserves a 4.5. But realistically, I doubt I’ll find myself thinking about this book in the months to come and I didn’t enjoy the characters at all, they were just flat cardboard characters IMO. I guess my biggest issue besides the characters was that Scott would 1) meet people who did NOT want to talk to him and then, immediately, 2) tell him everything he asked and more. I find the paranormal aspects more realistic than this?

I’m giving this 3 stars but honestly, that ending was crap. Long books SHOULD give you an ending. This felt like a waste of time.

Also, there was also this stupid moment where Pessl decided to introduce “Catalan style witchcraft, bruixeria.” And, uhm. I actually googled this because I thought I might be wrong, but bruixeria is just the word for witchcraft. A direct translation. It’s not a particular ‘style.’ And the example she added about it was just silly -witches stealing babies-, isn’t this universal? lol (is the witch from Hansel & Gretel Catalan now?). I guess she stumbled upon the word and decided to make it a thing. (Fun bit, as I was googling this, it does seem the Catalan Countries had the most witch-hunts in the area lol and one of the cities that had many events was Santa Coloma de Queralt, how cute is that?).

Disclaimer that this is too long for me to eye-read, I just don’t care about thrillers enough, so I’ve done the audiobook. ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Amy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2013, _own-home-library, _own-ebook, books-about-books, edelweis-netgalley_review, arc-copy

This may be one of my favorite books of 2013! Really creepy, really cool.

Detailed review to come!

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Jul 20, 2013 Lisa Hickman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: busy-as-a-bee-books, mystery-thrillers, giveaway

Night Film is a dark, psychological thriller that quickly grabbed my attention, then slowly and seductively infiltrated my senses. It teased me with fact, then suddenly blurred the lines between reality and fantasy. It plunged me into a world where it made me question everything, doubt what I know, and explore the darkest recesses of my mind. Even when I would finish reading for the night, I was left with an insidious feeling of dread, the book had me entirely wrapped in its spell. Funny, that t ...more

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Jan 14, 2016 Barb rated it liked it · review of another edition

A little long, a little tedious but an interesting premise and a satisfying conclusion.

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Aug 18, 2013 Alison rated it it was amazing

A dark, twisty, engaging thriller. I loved this book, and Ms. Pessel writes with lush prose and descriptive language that grabs you. Read it, you'll like it. :-) ...more

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Jun 26, 2013 Ashley FL rated it really liked it

This book was a bit of a see-saw for me. I found the beginning almost boring. Several of plot twists were very obvious -- and I was surprised when they came into the story as "big reveals". But the author created such a fantastically eerie mood that I give it four stars. ...more

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