• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Contact
  • Blog
    • Guest Posts
    • Lists
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Why You Should Read…
  • Reviews
    • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
    • Comics/Graphic Novels
    • Fantasy
      • Alt History
      • Coming of Age
      • Debut
      • Epic Fantasy
      • Fairy Tales
      • Grimdark
      • Heroic Fantasy
      • LitRPG
      • Paranormal Fantasy
      • Romantic Fantasy
      • Steampunk
      • Superheroes
      • Sword and Sorcery
      • Urban Fantasy
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
      • Debut
      • Demons
      • Ghosts
      • Gothic
      • Lovecraftian
      • Monsters
      • Occult
      • Psychological
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves
      • Witches
      • Zombies
    • Science Fiction
      • Aliens
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Alt History
      • Cyberpunk
      • Debut
      • Dystopian
      • Hard SciFi
      • Mechs/Robots
      • Military SF
      • Space Opera
      • Steampunk
      • Time Travel
    • Thriller
  • Interviews
    • Book Tube
  • SFF Addicts Podcast
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
  • SPFBO 7
    • SPFBO Articles

Review: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

August 3, 2020 by Traveling Cloak (Jason) Leave a Comment

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home (Welcome to Night Vale #3)
Amazon
Audible
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Bookshop
Libro.fm
Goodreads

Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours! and the creators of the hit podcast, comes a new novel set in the world of Night Vale and beyond.

In the town of Night Vale, there’s a faceless old woman who secretly lives in everyone’s home, but no one knows how she got there or where she came from…until now. Told in a series of eerie flashbacks, the story of The Faceless Old Woman goes back centuries to reveal an initially blissful and then tragic childhood on a Mediterranean Estate in the early nineteenth century, her rise in the criminal underworld of Europe, a nautical adventure with a mysterious organization of smugglers, her plot for revenge on the ones who betrayed her, and ultimately her death and its aftermath, as her spirit travels the world for decades until settling in modern-day Night Vale.

Interspersed throughout is a present-day story in Night Vale, as The Faceless Old Woman guides, haunts, and sabotages a man named Craig. In the end, her current day dealings with Craig and her swashbuckling history in nineteenth century Europe will come together in the most unexpected and horrifying way.

Part The Haunting of Hill House, part The Count of Monte Cristo, and 100% about a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home.

Review

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home is a ghost story-turned-memoir. It is told from the perspective of the Old Woman, and is written in autobiographical style. This is my first Night Vale experience, and I was absolutely fascinated by the story authors Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor put together.

Before I started writing this review, I spent 15 minutes skimming the book. I had read it 2 weeks ago, and, while I absolutely loved it, I have read several more books since and a few of the details eluded me. But, mostly, I was looking for a reference to the Old Woman’s name. I never found it. Maybe it is because I was skimming quickly, or maybe we never learn her name, but either way I think that demonstrates the genius of this book. While the narrative focuses on her story, she ends up as faceless for a reason. That is kind of the point, and Fink and Cranor managed to get that point across quite successfully.

That is not to say the story itself is not memorable. The Old Woman lives a really interesting life. She experiences love, loss, war and peace. She has epic sea battles, and makes (and loses) friends and family. The Old Woman’s history is so detailed and full of adventure, making it really enthralling. The reader learns about the entire scope of her life (and after); from child to Faceless Old Woman and everything in-between. Her thoughts, feelings, motives, and purposes. We come to understand everything there is to know about the Old Woman and how she ended up where she is. And yet I do not know her name!

There is a lot to say about the tone of the writing, too. Most of the book is about the Old Woman’s past and how she came to be, but the story starts in present day as a kind of ghost story that gives off super creepy vibes. This is such a great part of the book, because even as the authors come back to present-day every once in a while, the Old Woman’s motivations for being here are kept hidden until the very end. So, while the reader is experiencing this interesting adventure, it is told under the backdrop of a secondary narrative, as well, that is creepy and mysterious. This duality creates overlapping tension that drives the story.

The only small drawback to me was near the end of the book where parts of her history are detailed in short form. I thought this could have been done a little better. The narrative here felt rushed, but I do not ding it too much for that. I can see there is something very particular the authors are going for here, and I applaud the purposeful writing.

And that really is the overarching theme of this book to me: purposeful writing. The Faceless Old Woman who Secretly Lives in Your Home is phenomenal. Every chapter, every paragraph, every sentence and word is meaningful. Perfectly placed with exacting intent. I could not put it down, and I recommend to fans of fantasy. If you do learn her name, though, please drop me a line.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: import

About Traveling Cloak (Jason)

Traveling Cloak (Jason) is an accountant and lives in the Chicago area. He is an aspiring bookseller and just wants to read and review books without all the nonsense. Traveling Cloak reviews fantasy, science fiction, space opera, horror, and every once in a while literary fiction. He does not read e-books.

Other Reviews You Might Like

Review: The Night Shift by Natalka Burian

Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders #1) by Robin Hobb

Review: Malice (The Faithful & the Fallen #1) by John Gwynne

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. wittysarcasticbookclub says

    August 3, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    I know for a fact that this book would terrify me. Ha ha! Great review!

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      August 3, 2020 at 11:08 pm

      Thank you! It does have its creepy parts.

      Reply
  2. OwlBeSatReading says

    September 9, 2020 at 10:18 am

    I came to this post purely on the basis of the books title! It’s sounds so creepy! I’m a sucker for ghosty stuff and I’m liking what I see here. (Sorry it’s not a nasty comment, I can’t be a cold hearted woman all the time 😉)

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      September 9, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      That is unfortunate, because I have come to rely on you to knock me down a peg when my head gets too big. 😆

      As for the book, it definitely gives off YOU vibes (if you have seen the show or read the book) for portions of the book. The rest is like a swash buckling adventure, and these two aspects have an interesting relationship to each other. Kind of a weird dichotomy, but I enjoyed it.

      Thank you for reading.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

Follow FanFi!

Sign up for updates and get a FREE story from Michael R. Fletcher!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Recommends

Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book

Recent Reviews

Recent Comments

  1. David S on Review: Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven EriksonJune 29, 2022
  2. Dera on Review: Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven EriksonJune 28, 2022
  3. Hope The Magical Easter Basket Fairy on Book Tour & Review: Second Star to the Left (Reimagined Fairy Tales #1) by Megan Van DykeJune 28, 2022
  4. Rob on Review: Legends and Lattes by Travis BaldreeJune 20, 2022
  5. WS_BOOKCLUB on Review: Perception Check (The Mages of Velmyra Saga #1) by Astrid KnightJune 15, 2022

Archive

Copyright © 2022 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In