This is a good book that's getting flack because, in my opinion, it wasn't what people expected. 
 We're used to seeing the bizarre town of Night Vale through the perspective of community radio host Cecil Baldwin, getting the overview of any number of apocalypses through his bird's eye view of the situation. The novel is different. 
 This is very much a view from the ground in the life of our two protagonists, Diane and Jackie. Diane is a single mother trying to raise a teenaged shapeshifter, and Jackie is stuck in a rut, having been nineteen for decades. Oh, sure, crazy things happen to the town and we get intermission chapters in Cecil's voice, but we're focused on their arcs and struggles. Because of this, it also would probably work for people who've never heard Night Vale. 
 There's really good stuff here. I bought Diane's interactions with her son, and what the book conveys in few pages about being an interracial single mom is brilliant. Jackie's appropriately teenaged in outlook. Their increasingly desperate and creepy struggle kept my attention. 
 A few things bugged me. 
 One, there are a few chapters which could probably have been cut. Their formula is "Protagonist goes to person we love from podcast - neat stuff shows up - beloved character cannot help protagonist." I realized that, although I wasn't bored, I felt sometimes that nothing had happened. 
 Two, one of my favorite characters from the podcast that was an utter letdown to me. 
 Still, if you want a Night Vale experience, this is it. I bet they could sell a day calendar of all the weird, philosophical ramblings, and I'd buy it. The Night Vale novel series starts strong, and I'm sure the next book will show more polish.