Customer Reviews

Supernatural: Nevermore (Supernatural (Harperentertainment))

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

i am one die-hard supernatural fan. and i'm an adult. and... oh, yeah, a writer. which means, i know writers have to make a living, and i hate giving bad reviews. BUT.

honestly. did this guy EVER watch more than maybe 4 or 5 episodes of this show?

it probably goes without saying i shouldn't have expected much from this work, since it is based on a tv series. still, i bought it to be loyal and help show the CW that there are fans out there who feel it is a small sacrifice in order to help keep it on the air. i love the idea of a series of fiction works based on this show, mainly because the characters and premise are so interesting and lend themselves to myriad situations. there are certainly enough plot ideas out there to make a very, very long fiction series, and many seasons of quality television entertainment.

still. i won't give away spoilers for the book, but i certainly pray --like dean prays for layla --that the good folks at harper collins will find another writer to write any further episodes published in this series. some of the most unforgiveable faults: the guy seems to confuse the word "agoraphobia" with "acrophobia," he can't remember from one chapter to the next if it's sam's arm or hand that's broken (in the show it's actually his wrist) --and later has him performing physical feats as if the cast has simply evaporated, and makes so many character errors on things that even relative newbie fans like me have committed to memory that it's quite obvious he just doesn't know his material. and Poe!!! Poe is spinning in his grave. literary content is faulty, continuity is just nil. and no, i don't agree that sam and dean live between the covers of this book. in actuality, they breezed by in the impala, the author got a glimpse of them from the highway, and attempted to write what he thought he saw. it's as if he almost got their physical descriptions right, but the only reason i could picture sam and dean is because i KNOW them, like any fan knows them. if i didn't, i would never have recognized them from the author's characterization. they're like hollow, ghostly shadows of their true selves here. no true brotherly angst or banter. in other words, don't look for kripke's genius on these pages.

the assault on reason given between the covers of this book is flat-out insulting. supernatural is a witty, imaginative, full-on ride into entertainment bliss for anyone between the ages of 13 and 196. i held on and made myself finish this book just so i could say i gave it a fair chance. the ending... what ending? i'll keep my mouth shut and let others find out for themselves just what passes for publishable fiction in this particular venue.

as for the rest, i echo all the criticism given above, and heartily suggest that the next time h/c awards a contract for a book based on a tv series, that they have someone actually familiar with the show read the blessed thing before it's published.

fandom has dozens of amateurs who can --and do --write rings around this guy.

but as i said, if you're a fan, buy it anyway to show support for the show, which deserves everything we can do to keep it on the air.

if you're not, don't bother, 'cause you won't learn anything relevant about the show by reading it and it could make you wonder just what all the supernatural fuss is about. just watch the show on thursday nights at 9 pm on the CW.

Supposedly a "Supernatural" tie in novel, "Nevermore" reads instead like Mr. DeCandido saw a chance to write a paean the Bronx and package it as a tie in novel. Sam and Dean were incidentals as he sang the praises of his native city and inserted his own original characters--who, although more well-drawn in the book than the supposed stars of the show, were still lackluster and stereotypical. As for the plot, I didn't understand why Sam and Dean were necessary at all; they seemed to be peripheral to the story at almost all points. Through them we learned how wonderful their host's house, his coffee, and rock album collection were; we learned how difficult it is to park a large car such as the Impala in Brooklyn, and oh, yeah, Poe's house is there. About all the boys proved useful for was a Seance at the end of the book, which any decent medium could have pulled off--and spared us, the show's fans, this endless psalm of the glories of the Bronx masquerading as a novel about the show we enjoy.

The plot itself, rather than the spine-tingling and chilling story the cover of the book promised, was rather lackluster and boring. The Edgar Allen Poe references seemed more there to as an educational device regarding the glories of the locale. (Again, how cool is the Bronx, that Mr. Poe died there!) For the A plot, not only was the "bad guy" obvious from the moment he was introduced to the plot, he was so poorly drawn it seemed as if the author realized we had reached chapter 15 and, "Oh, yes, I need a bad guy." Superficially, he made sense, just like most of the rest of the book. Looks good perhaps on the surface, but with nothing there supporting the character's motivations or purpose. Same with the B plot; the twist that came with the reveal made no sense at all. And if Sam and Dean were this useless and clueless in their investigations during the show, we wouldn't have a show to begin with.

When it came to Sam and Dean themselves, I found the infamous eye-color debacle to be representative of the way their characters were portrayed in general. Mr. DeCandido said he "quickly" checked an online picture and came away with the conclusion that Jensen Ackles (aka Dean) had blue eyes. Maybe he looked at a black and white picture? Or a picture so small Mr. Ackles' eyes weren't even visible? However, once I read through the book, I understood. For all his claims of working with three or four rabid fans of the show and the ease with which he "got into [their] heads," Mr. DeCandido displayed an incredibly superficial knowledge of what are arguably two of the most complex and well-drawn characters I've ever seen on television. Even that superficial knowledge was flawed, giving us Dean as a drunken idiot (why would anyone work with him?) and Sam as a major prig (I wanted to slap him several times throughout the book.) Not to mention a major misstep in the characterization of the Winchester patriarch, John. I am not a fan of horror in any genre, yet I come back to Supernatural the show again and again because of these characters. As they are portrayed in this book, both characters are unappealing, if not repellent. Neither reaction leaves me thinking they're worthy of more investments from me in either time or money.

If the show's owners and producers were counting on luring more people in to the show through the tie-in novels, and "Nevermore" is typical of what they are satisfied with offering, they are going to be sorely disappointed with their results. I bought the book to support the show, but if the level of storytelling and characterization does not improve vastly in their future offerings, I won't waste any more of my money. I can find much better for free online.

I honestly cannot recommend this book to anyone, unless you're a reader who's happy with anything that involves the characters Sam and Dean Winchester.

While I did think the Winchesters were well drawn and in character (for the most part), the other characters came across to me as remarkably two-dimensional and in some cases one-dimensional. Space that could have been used to flesh out the characters and make them richer and more human was wasted. (See below for more on that point.) The two major original characters (Manfred and Det. McBain), who are apparently supposed to be amusingly quirky, I found to be cliche'd and annoying - and McBain appears out of nowhere to take a major role in the second half of the book. The villain of the piece is described so poorly that he's neither "terrifying" nor "chilling" (adjectives taken from the blurb on the back of the book). In fact, the book isn't scary at all; very little attention is paid to pacing or description that would amp up the chills.

The author sets up two cases for the Winchesters to investigate and solve, and then for the most part ignores both until the last few chapters. He spends far too much time discussing things that aren't important to the storyline: Dean's passion for their host's music collection, his rabid dislike of the host's band's music, the host's unusual collection of coffee mugs and the quality of his coffee, Dean's attempts to pick up an attractive bartender and the attempts of a younger woman to pick up Dean. A short book like this needs to zero in on plot and *stay* zeroed in on it; there's just no room for wandering off the path.

Worse than that, the Winchesters don't actually SOLVE either of the cases. As a reader, both situations came across to me as the author shoving things into place rather than the Winchesters being the driving force. Sam and Dean are simply *there* when the solution happens.

No, this story isn't an angst-fest like a lot of the fanfiction that's out there - it's the other side of the coin. It takes place shortly after "Crossroad Blues," a heartbreaking series of events for the Winchesters that the author casually dismisses with the line, "Dean and Manfred were standing by the record player discussing the relative merits of Robert Johnson's recordings (leading Sam to wonder if Dean intended to mention that he'd recently met the very demon to whom Johnson had sold his soul)..." Ouch.

Again, if you're happy with anything bearing the name "Supernatural," you'll probably feel that your money was well spent. But whether it's a TV tie-in novel or something completely mainstream, I look for good, solid storytelling with rich, interesting, compelling characters, and this book fails to hit that mark.

The book was quite disappointing. Although the author got some of the personality of Dean and Sam down pat, the plot was slow to get started. DeCandido's style of writing gets quite irritating at times with the over description of things. He seems to be more interested in what Dean is listening to and his song choices than moving the plot along. Hopefully the second book fares better as it is by a different author.

When I first purchased this, I was so excited to have a tie-in novel for Supernatural--but as others have said, it quickly wore off. I found myself literally skipping many pages out of plain boredom. Besides the fact that we spent way too much time on meaningless points, I didn't find the characters all that well contrived. I mean, Dean not being able to drive the Bronx? Are you kidding me? And Sam came off as a prig at times.

Also, like others have said, given the place and time at which this was supposed to have occurred, it lacked a seriousness and depth one would expect from the boys at this time. But, hey, we spent most of the time teasing and flirting instead.

Nope, Dean's not nearly as dumb as this and Sam's not quite so disdainful of his brother. I sure hope the next tie-in this writer writes is better or I will most certainly avoid spending my hard-earned money on a poorly written, one-dimensional, not the least bit creepy Ode to My Home Town.

Scoff at fan fiction if you like, people, but several fan fic writers write the boys truer and with better, more interesting plots than this guy AND they're FREE.

If you're looking for the complex characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, you won't find it here...nor will you find an exciting case file, either.

Let me start off by saying I adore Supernatural. It's the best show on TV (seriously) and I would definitely call myself a 'True Fan'.

But I'm kind of shocked by the cries of outrage over this book. I feel like I was reading a different book altogether from some of the other reviewers.

Firstly, like with most book adaptations, you can't expect the world. I did not go into this expecting an episode of Supernatural. It was not written by any of the writers of the show nor was it combed for errors by Eric Kripke. I did not expect to get intense character investigation, revelations or anything like that because I wouldn't WANT it unless it was done right. With the writers of the show.

A lot of what was said in the reviews was correct. A few continuity errors, personality misses, etc. But it wasn't anything I couldn't live with.

You have to go into the book knowing it's a fluff piece. It's supposed to be a little dalliance from the show. It's not perfect, far from it. But there were some very fun aspects that I loved and some laugh out loud moments.

One thing I enjoyed was the author's clear enjoyment of the music of Supernatural. (a huge part of the show) Dean geeking out over one of the character's record collections was fantastic. The author even included a playlist of sorts in the back of the book which was awesome. Also, he dropped a Murphy name cameo in there from Jim Butcher's Dresden series (READ THEM), naming her as the 'cop in chicago' who knows about the supernatural. I confess, I a fangirly moment there. It's clear the writer had fun in the world and with the characters and I had a good time reading it.

Was it perfect? Nope. Was it an episode in a book? Again, no, but it was entertaining.

I can't dictate what people should and shouldn't like, some people need that perfection and truth to enjoy these spin off books but I'm just not one of them. If you are a stickler for things like that (and no harm if you are) then PLEASE avoid this book because you will be disappointed. But if you just want to kick back and read something silly and fun and with Sam and Dean it's worth a try...and worth supporting the show for sure. ;)

Sidenote: I have read fanfiction for this show that blows my mind. (and trumps what is in Nevermore by a longshot, sorry Mr.DeCandido!) It would be an incredible thing for publishers to put together a book of fan stories blessed by the show writers.

I was so excited to read 'Nevermore' when I first heard about it, but within the first 2 chapters the excitement vanished faster than a spirit pumped full of rock salt.

Not only is this book NOT scary, but the TWO hunts the boys are involved in are both so full of plot holes it made me want to check the Impala for bumper damage. The 2 main supporting characters are annoying and rude (I'm sorry, but cop or not, NO ONE talks to Dean that way) and both happen to claim that they knew John Winchester, which was incredibly unbeleivable. (If John ever met Pym for real, he'd have put a bullet right between his eyes just to shut him up) There is no danger to the boys whatsoever in the book, no one gets hurt except a few people at the start, and the boys don't even finish one of the cases! I'm sorry, but that is just not the Dean and Sam that I know.

But the biggest disappointment was the lack of "Sam and Dean" involved with Sam and Dean. There were a few good brotherly banter jokes, but overall Dean just sat around listening to music and spent the whole book REFUSING TO DRIVE THE IMPALA ( ... umm..what!?) Oh, and apparently he also has blue eyes in case no one knew that. (small details people, come ON)It's like the author never even saw the show. He set the book in between 'Crossroad Blues' and 'Croatoan', and for maybe 1 paragraph he mentions Dean having just met the demon that revealed that his dad died for him, but it was like 'So what? no big deal - this Manny dude has coffee!' The one time they come close to having a real conversation, the author ruins it by having Dean call it 'his daily dose of emo-angst'

I'm sorry, but the online fanfic writers tend to have much better stories. For one, they are SCARY. They are well-thought out plots, not just odes to Brooklyn, and the fans KNOW OUR BOYS.

Supernatural needs all the support it can get, and if you have to buy this book, go ahead, but don't expect to see Sam and Dean in it.

I'm a huge fan of the CW series which is why I purchased Nevermore. Nevermore takes place right after Sam's wrist was broken by the Zombie while chasing her back to her grave. It's a quick read and true to the series a fun one too. Although it starts off well with a frightening apparation of a tormented female poltergiest and a promising story linked to Edgar Allen Poe, the end seemed a bit rushed to me. I can see having a rushed ending on TV given that you have 40 minutes to tell a story but that's not an excuse for a book. There was allot of buildup and then it was like someone untied the ballon and the story went all over the place and then quickly died. If you're fan of the series then you will purchase this book regardless of what any one says, if not check your local library.

I love the supernatural tv series, though at times it can be a bit dark with the violence scenes. This is the second book from the supernatural book series, and surprisingly it's even worst than the first one. At least in Witch Canyon the author didn't start making rather wild assumptions about the characters. I think anybody who watched the tv show knows Sam's too much of a trauma character to start saying good things about their father unless it's to make Dean feel better. The main female oc added in this book was too mary sue. The main guy oc Pym annoyed me especially. If you like the show do yourself a favor, don't read any of the books. I also really hated the Roxy case and Manferd. Also the author used outside information involved in the tvshow that the characters themselves don't know about. The author has Dean talk or think about the Reaper from when he was in the hospital, but after Dean wakes up he doesn't remember anything from when he was sleeping. The author should have watched the tv show.

First off, if I wanted a street-by-street guide of New York, I'd have gone to the travel section. Secondly, this author obviously has no real sense of the complexity that makes Sam and Dean Winchester the wonderful characters they are on the show. He simplified them down to their worst traits and turned them into terribly rendered charicatures. Nevermind that he set the story during one of the most emotionaly wrenching periods of their lives (discovering for certain that their father definitely traded his soul for Dean's life and is now in hell for it; Dean carrying around the secret that he may have to kill his brother one day, which is eating him up inside). Instead of drawing from this rich trove of information, the author attempts to treat this as if it should be a funny, light-hearted period for the boys in which Sam is a shallow snot and Dean's an imbecile. Um. . . no. Just NO. Just doesn't work. And the story? What story? Goes no where. Not recommended.