I haven’t started reading that book, in fact – I’m still waiting for my package.
However, I bought it for two major reasons:
1. The mystery plot
2. Its format: the evidence that come with the book.
When I was a teenager my mom bought me „Cathy’s book” which has similar format (it comes with some fun elements like letters and photos). My young brain LOVED that kind of stuff and I still do. In fact, I’ve been trying for years to buy other parts of the series with interactive elements but only found german and english version with Cathy’s evidence printed inside the book. It’s not what I wanted.
I also know there’s a Sherlock book with some fun letters and evidence but it’s almost impossible to buy.
Any reccomendations?
by No-Nothing-6517
3 Comments
House of Leaves is the most obvious comparator. I’m pretty sure it directly inspired S too.
Bats of the Republic by Zach Dodson—the hunt for a missing letter ties multiple time lines together. It’s highly illustrated (maps, fantastic creatures, and documents) and has an almost Wes Anderson aesthetic.
Out of print, so you’d need to look at either libraries or a site like abebooks.
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter – all the documents are presented in order, so you read the novel from beginning to end.
Night Film by Marisha Pessl – similar, but I didn’t finish this one, as all the evidence just got to be too much for me to keep track of, and I started to get bored. (I had the same experience with House of Leaves.)
From reading summaries of the rest of the book, it seems like it’s a subversion and deconstruction of mystery and crime novel tropes. It’s an interesting idea, but the execution just wasn’t for me. I feel like it might be a good fit for you if you really enjoy combing through all the supplementary documents, though.