Alice Isn't Dead

2.5 stars.
I have not listened to the Alice isn't Dead podcast. Though I have listened to and read ‘Welcome to Nightvale'.

I really enjoyed Part 1 of the story and liked the bit of mystery that it left you with. Then the later parts kicked in and it turned into some ‘Underworld' war of ‘beings' and the different conspiracies surrounding the origins of those beings and the plot became a little too ‘stretched' for me.

The main character suffers from a severe case of anxiety and at the afterward of the book the author talks about how she experiences it the same way he does. She doesn't come out at the end of the book all healed - she just learns to live with it. So it may be a good read for those interested in an MC with anxiety, but the story surrounding it might get a little muddy.

I must admit that I love how Fink approaches horror themes in a way that is reminiscent (to me) of magical realism, though it's more palpable in WTNV his particular approach is still there in Alice Isn't Dead and it was a treat to revisit it.
That being said, I think the story worked better in podcast format so personally I'd say, if you only want to do one of the 2, listen to the podcast that's really where the writing shines.