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Book Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Star Wars Novelizations, Bk 8)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Star Wars Novelizations, Bk 8)
vonze avatar reviewed on


Super disappointed in this one. I have been a big defender of 'The Last Jedi' and as a long time, obsessed Star Wars fan I was hoping this novelization would add more insight into the characters motivations. It did and it didn't. It's a toss up and ultimately a tease. It barely tells anything new.

There are some added scenes NOT in the movie: Luke's alternative life dream sequence, Han's funeral, Luke's third lesson to Rey, the Caretakers' thoughts after Luke vanishes (probably more I'm forgetting). They are well-written and very detailed, but not necessary. In comparison, scenes that I LOVED from the movie were pretty glossed over. Very vague. After seeing the movie eight times in theaters, I was excited to dive into the thoughts of my favorite characters during certain scenes. But a lot of those scenes, there was only a description and meager or no character thought process. Many times, I repeatedly demanded aloud, "But why??" But why did Luke do this, what is he thinking? While I'm still young, please! I want to defend 'The Last Jedi' and this won't help.

Probably just a pet peeve, I thought there were some odd word choices that made serious scenes almost comical. I didn't know lightsabers went "smack" like banana-cream pies or the old Batman tv show.

For me the beginning was stronger than the end. We did get some interesting thoughts from Hux. I enjoyed the Force-based mother-child reunion of Leia and Kylo. Again, I liked the extra scenes. It was nice learning more about Rose and Paige's background. There are some Snoke thoughts about Rey, Luke, Kylo, and the galaxy, for people who need more information on Snoke.

But for ships, there's no help. Take Finn and Rose for instance. Pretty much from what I read, there was no reason for Rose to kiss Finn and say "saving what we love." She spends the novelization very annoyed by him. She just does it 'cause.

When some of the characters do think, they think in circles. They'll think one thing and then the opposite, many times. Because it was done so quickly in each scene, this made Rey and Rose, especially, seem very wishy-washy. Disappointing.