Review reposted from KateKintail’s Book Journal
Title: The Roads Not Taken
Author: Tim Waggoner
Fandom: Supernatural
My rating: 5/5
SPOILERS BELOW!
I used to be pretty good at Choose Your Own Adventure stories. Sure, sometimes I’d get my character into trouble, but they were kids books; rarely did I die. This book, on the other hand, was traumatic for me! LOL Every choice I made, I ended up killing Sam and Dean in terrible ways. Oh, poor boys! Emotional investment in the characters + my inability to make good choices = terrible ends of the road. My very first choice in the first story had Dean & Sam killed by a monster. In the second story, I immediately got Sam killed in a bathroom, just because I thought he was the sort who would go wash out his shirt when wine got spilled on it. I got a little better as the stories went on. I knew enough to NOT let the boys split up to try to find the monster’s wherabouts. And, in the end, I made the right choice.
This was a very clever book. The author definitely knows his SPN and I enjoyed it as part of the SPN universe. Tie-in novels are usually hit or miss for me, and this one was a hit. Sure, there were a few canon details I’d wished had made it in, but nothing jumped out at me as violating canon or making the boys too out of character. And Dean still loves pie.
The last story came close to breaking the fourth wall without any breakage actually occurring. I thought it was a clever way to end it. The whole concept itself was quite clever, really. So was the title and the “end of the road” every time something terrible happened to the boys (mauled, souls stolen, shot, you name it). Even when you chose the right path for them, it wasn’t always the best outcome–which felt true to the show as well.
I definitely enjoyed this book!
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