Why read Death Note, Vol. 1?

Book cover of Death Note, Vol. 1

Book description

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Death Note, Vol. 1 as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Kaeleb LD Appleby

Author

I enjoy everything about this series, particularly the main protagonist and antagonist. However, the lines between the two are very blurred, and that’s another great thing about it.

I loved the way Light planned everything out meticulously and then the way L would counter—like a gripping game of chess almost.

That might sound a little boring, but this series is far from dull.

From Kaeleb's list on crime dramas that keep you hooked.

Christopher Gorham Calvin

Author

I’m cheating slightly with this one, as Death Note is a twelve-volume manga rather than a singular novel. But the twelve volumes comprise one single, cohesive, top-notch story that I’d pit against any of my favorite, more traditional novels.

Death Note has been adapted into an anime, a Japanese series of movies, and, most recently, a Netflix movie. The anime is excellent. The Japanese movies are also pretty good. But that Netflix movie… compared to the source material, it’s utter garbage.

And unfortunately, because of Netflix’s popularity, it’s the version most people are likely familiar with. And that’s really sad,…

From Christopher's list on that were adapted into worse movies.