Stranger Things: One Way or Another

A Nancy Wheeler Mystery

By: Caitlin Schneiderhan

Narrated by: Louisa Zhu

Following the events of Stranger Things: Season 4, Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley are hot on the heels of a new mystery—and they won’t stop until they solve it.

Hawkins, Indiana, is in recovery. It’s been two months since Vecna’s earthquake tore through the town, and its residents are still reeling from the devastation. Nancy Wheeler has spent every waking minute on the hunt for Vecna, but he’s continued to elude her. How can she head to Emerson for college in the fall if Hawkins is still under the influence of the Upside Down?

When fellow classmate Joey Taft starts acting shifty at graduation, Nancy is convinced Vecna’s found his newest victim. Joined by fellow amateur sleuth Robin Buckley, Nancy doesn’t waste any time questioning Joey. What the girls discover leads them down the path of a bigger story than The Hawkins Post could ever have assigned Nancy. Why are people around town suddenly getting sick? Why is there a strange man tailing Nancy as she investigates? And, most important, does this even have anything to do with the Upside Down?

Together with Robin, Nancy embarks on a dangerous quest for the truth. The deeper the two dig, the further Nancy finds herself drawn into a web of intrigue that threatens to trap her in Hawkins . . . forever.

Great book!

It was so well written. I could visualize the characters mannerisms through the authors writing.

must have for stranger things watchers

great story. really filled in some gaps and hopefully picked up on a couple of easter eggs!

Fun little side story

Just finished the first haft of season 5 and thought this to be a fun little filler to hold off on until the rest of it releases this month. I do understand that the author can’t tackle serious issues like the relationship between Nancy and Steve or Nancy and Jonathan but I do feel like more could’ve been done since there’s an almost 2 year gap from season 4 to 5. Also do wish there could’ve been more characters interacting in the story but i supposed Lucas is just always with Max when’s he’s not at school and Dustin is grieving alone. I’ll say at least the characters that are in story are written very well and especially Robin and the very same for Nancy. The narrator does her best to distinguish each character to be their own. I’d say overall it’s just a fun little story that has no real pertinence to the plot but if you can’t wait till the rest of season 5 comes out, I’d say give this a listen

Fun mystery to get through the wait for the final episodes.

I enjoyed this book. It's a bit YA... so much internal dialogue between actual dialogue. At times it really felt like being spoonfed and I was anxious for the story to get going. But I'm assuming they keep it pretty accessible for all age groups due to the audience being varied in age as well.

I absolutely loved the way the writing captured each of the characters' natural dialogue and phrasing. The narrator was also very good at capturing the intonation and rhythm that each of the characters would normally use. She never oversold it by trying to mimic a character's voice. Instead, she used each actor's distinctive pronunciation, keeping her register within her reach and was able to really connect with each character's vocal pattern. Nancy sounded like Natalia and Robin sounded like Maya. She was able to do this really effectively with each of the characters. And that really made it a lot of fun to listen to.

As for the story, I liked that it wasn't supernatural. It was a real life mystery. One with high stakes and real life consequences. Exactly the kind of mystery that Nancy would be hungry to solve. And I loved the placement between the 4th and 5th season. It referenced both the past and the coming season while still maintaining its independence from either. I'm so grateful they put this story out now. For me, this was a great way to fill the void while waiting for the next episodes to drop.

Another solid Stranger Things tie-in novel

If there really is a Nancy Wheeler spin-off novel series in the works, yes, please and now. I really enjoyed this novel. As other reviewers have said, this reads like a Nancy Drew novel but set in Hawkins. A student is killed, and Nancy 'Walk 'em Down' Wheeler is on the case. She begins to notice that some people in Hawkins are getting sick. What's the scoop? I love that we get Nancy and Robin solving mysteries together here. They are a fun odd couple. The story is fairly well-paced though a bit sloggy at times. I felt like this novel could have been shortened by a couple of chapters, and you would not have missed anything. All of the Hawkins characters read like their characters on the show. I also really loved the scene we got between Nancy and Karen at the end. All in all, if you want to spend more time with these beloved Stranger Things characters, I recommend giving One Way or Another a try.