Life Is Strange: Heatwaves Review
Summary: Life Is Strange Heatwaves tells a passionate story and is a phenomenal read with nail-biting suspense and captivating drama that easily lures you to the next page wanting more until the end.
5
Ripe Reading
Life Is Strange: Heatwaves, written by Brittany Morris and published on July 30th of 2024, is the page-turning spin-off of Life Is Strange: True Colors. The book is a continuation of the story with Alex and Steph at the forefront after they left their troubles and trauma behind in Haven Springs. Now on the road to fulfill their dreams together of being successful musicians, they wind up getting stuck in a backwoods town that is currently suffering from a drought. Alex and Steph instinctively get caught up in the lives of the feverish townsfolk and their convoluted political affairs. The two must paint the town red (literally) to get the heck out of dodge and make it to their life changing gig in time.
The story picks up right after one of the endings of Life Is Strange: True Colors. Alex and Steph are en route to their destiny with their guitar and drum kit slackly sliding around in the back of their car, but secured in their hearts. After some car trouble, they are able to hitch a ride to a nearby town that has clearly seen better days. The pair quickly find out that the place is having an issue with their water sources making the people uneasy and their businesses rapidly declining. They are thrown between political campaigns with differing opinions on how to fix the problem and the way of life that the citizens don’t want to give up. The kindhearted Alex, with the support of Steph, uses her powers to get in the minds of the distraught drought dwellers to see if she can solve the matter with ease, but finds herself in unfortunate and odd predicaments. Alex must overcome the people’s past as well as her own while also coming to terms with what she is actually fighting for.
The narrative remains absorbing the entire way through. Alex and Steph are a great pairing of characters with Alex being the softer tone and empathetic of the two and Steph being more headstrong and hamming it up with the jokes. With one character trying to be more reasonable and the other being more daring and outgoing, any situation they find themselves in is instantly compelling. Being a big Life Is Strange fan, I thought Alex’s powers of being able to read people’s emotions were sort of lackluster and didn’t provide anything riveting, but Life Is Strange: Heatwaves puts it into an entirely new perspective. It feels like it’s an actual “one up” on someone; an ace in the hole. Describing the power through words makes more sense and comes across better than actually seeing it since it deals with emotions. Brittany Morris does a commendable job at representing how palpable and authentic these emotions truly are.
Final Thoughts?
Life Is Strange: Heatwaves is the perfect companion piece to Life Is Strange: True Colors, but is also a great and easy read if you are not a fan of the games. Conversations between characters are expressed naturally and are not only laid out interestingly, but are entertaining with characters communicating their thoughts in modern and comical ways. Alex and Steph are conveyed exactly like their videogame counterparts and this adventure and the conundrums these two find themselves in perfectly align in a way that allows growth within themselves that doesn’t feel forced. The issues they need to quell starkly contrast their stances on ideas and objectives, which inherently makes you want to keep reading to see how they makeshift their way out of the next problem. Life Is Strange: Heatwaves is beautifully written and full of surprises and “on the edge of your seat” moments of tension that Life Is Strange regulars strive for and newcomers will get addicted to. If you are looking for more Life Is Strange action or even want to jump into the mix for the first time before the release of the next title, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, look no further.
About the Author
Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.
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