# Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books — user reviews > 176 indexed App Store user reviews of Novel Effect by Novel Effect Inc, rated 4.90/5 from 9,666 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novel-effect-read-aloud-books/id1057374139/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novel-effect-read-aloud-books/id1057374139.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 9,052 · 4★ 378 · 3★ 112 · 2★ 44 · 1★ 80 ## What do users think of Novel Effect? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - ❤️ Loved the app - 🤩 Fun and good family time - 🎨 Brings books to life - 👍 Engaging for students - 🎉 Adds magic to reading - 🙌 Transforms read alouds - 🎶 Wonderful sound effects - 🤗 Makes reading more fun - 📚 Motivates kids to read - 👏 Absolutely amazing **Cons** - 🔒 Many locked books need premium - 🔇 Sound issues - quiet or out of sync - 💰 Expensive subscription - 🤔 Not as many titles as expected **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes or gets stuck - Progress meter doesn't match audio **Most requested features** - Add more books, especially current titles - Improve audio sync and volume - Implement Apple Family Sharing - Add more free books or samples - Provide option to turn off background music ## Newest reviews (14 of 176) ### 3/5 — Great but pricey *2026-08-16* There are tons of great titles if you pay- if not there isn’t many. I wanted to use it in my classroom but just can’t afford one more thing. Think about adding more free books for teachers- or better yet a way cheaper option for teachers to use it. ### 2/5 — Highly disappointed *2026-07-08* My daughter has been begging for this app for months. Unfortunately, the in app ebook selection is extremely limited (even with the paid version.) Any book worth reading gives you a link to buy the book separately. Additionally, there is no easy way to search by reading level. I was really hoping this would inspire her younger sister to read, but the app really isn’t designed to teach reading. It’s impossibly hard to find easy books. There is no assistance if the child reads something incorrectly. You have to read loudly and clearly to get the sound effects to work. The idea is adorable, but the execution leaves a LOT to be desired. ### 5/5 — Love but recent TA issues *2026-01-14, version 3.8.5* Me and my daughter love this app but recently had issues downloading the ebooks. The pages are duplicating and not including the full book. ### 5/5 — Novel effect *2025-12-20, version 3.8.5* I read 6 books in one day, because of this app! I love it so much! ### 5/5 — Delightful *2025-12-16, version 3.8.5* Such a nice and delightful way to read stories. I love the sound effects ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2025-12-09, version 3.8.5* This is the best way to keep students engaged during a read aloud. You can hear a pin drop in my classroom whenever I use it!! ### 2/5 — Soundscapes *2025-12-05, version 3.8.5* For some stories the soundscapes don’t go all the way to the end of the story and I’m left reading the last couple of pages without any sound. ### 5/5 — My students and I call it “Library Magic”! *2025-12-05, version 3.8.5* What a difference a Novel Effect soundscape makes for read-alouds! Not all books have activity packets, but the packets are a great resource for post-reading activities, for those that do. ### 5/5 — So cool! *2025-11-21, version 3.8.5* I’m having just as much fun reading with my kids as they are! It’s even helping me discover more books for my kids. If you thought you loved reading before, just wait until you try this! ### 5/5 — Magical *2025-11-16, version 3.8.5* This app is essential to my Elementary library. The students from k-5 are engaged…the activities are OUTSTANDING. Minor suggestion: Move the monthly reading calendars to the top, rather than the bottom. The k-5 activities allow me to read the same book across grades and help create a school wide community based on the experience of the books…Thanks Novel Effect, this librarian LOVES your work!!!! ### 4/5 — Great but need more Spanish! *2025-10-27, version 3.8.5* I love this app so much but it’s just so sad that there are not a lot of Spanish books on here. I’m a bilingual kindergarten teacher and do read Spanish books in my class daily. Wish the selection in Spanish was larger. ### 3/5 — Coming back to check out… *2025-10-27, version 3.8.5* Checking in to see if the apps improved… ### 5/5 — Creepy Pair of Underwear *2025-10-20, version 3.8.5* This is the BEST thing EVER! My son loves the sound effects as I read the book. He gets excited and hit gets him involved and engaged during bedtime story time. He even wants to read books right after school. What’s so great about it is that to has activities that goes along with the story and lessons that it teaches!! ### 5/5 — The day the crayons quit *2025-10-18, version 3.8.5* Bad to many books in premium ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Not satisfying *2026-05-24, version 3.10* I am very disappointed it won’t read it won’t do it for you. You have to literally memorize the freaking book in order for it to play the sounds, which is absolutely stupid when you’re blind and just want to hear the story because you’re curious when you find out you have to memorize the book just to hear the sounds absolutely pointless. ### 1/5 — Hate it *2026-05-10, version 3.10* Hate the fact that I don’t have any of the same books 😡😡😡😡 ### 1/5 — Just awful *2026-03-21, version 3.9* I tried to reach Eid the sound effects of all the places you’ll go and then it asks for a payment to do any of them makes me so mad😡 ### 1/5 — Stole my money *2026-03-07, version 3.9* Offers a seven day trial, then immediately charged me 50$. Has denied my refund request twice. ### 1/5 — What the heck? *2026-01-09, version 3.8.5* Why do you have to pay $50 a month just to read a book this should make reading fun for kids and I have to pay $50 a month. That's stupid. ### 1/5 — It is so bad *2025-12-06, version 3.8.5* It doesn’t Listen to me til the last word on the end ### 1/5 — No French options *2025-09-11* On line it says that I can choose a language preference when we launch the app, but once in the app it’s nowhere to be found. Is it even available in French or am I wasting my time? ### 1/5 — Not what I expected *2024-11-23, version 3.7.5* I expected to pay $8 a month with books already in the app ready to read. What I seem to have gotten was an app you pay to buy more books through. I Deleted the app was not what it appears dont be fooled. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2024-11-11, version 3.7.5* Doesn’t track the story. Randomly gets stuck on a page halfway through a book ### 1/5 — Introduced paid plans *2022-07-06* *** Update 07/05: While the app had improved over the past few months, the latest update is complete crap! They now force you to pay for a premium membership even though I want to remain on the free tier. As a result, I can no longer even use the 5 reads per month. The developers are extremely greedy and do not care at all for parents. Either fix this and stop forcing us to pay, or you will lose users! *** Update 02/08: The latest app update has now resulted in paid plans. This app while amazing, still has lots of bugs. I cannot imagine paying for something that does not work flawlessly. So I really love the concept. The first few books I tried worked great. But after the most recent update, the sound effects for several books are no longer play. For example, there was no pool splash at the end of Click Clack Moo. The team really needs to stress test the app to ensure that multiple reading of a book works consistently each time. I even tried removing and reinstalling the app, but still the same issue 😩. Please investigate and issue a fix asap! My kid loves the sound effects and I love reading to him! ***Update (12/1): After the recent update, the books started to work again. However, they again stopped working after 2-3 uses. Not sure why as nothing changed on my phone. DEVELOPERS - I'm not sure how else to ask you, but please stress test your app!!! ***Update (12/15): The app has pretty much stopped working over time. While the music and sound effects start, they promptly stop after a few minutes. Pretty sad and terrible performance!!! Do not bother with this app because you will forever be frustrated! I have 5 different books and NONE of them work consistently! I am using an iPhone 6 with iOS 10.3.3. I have tried with just the iPhone and with a Jambox external speaker via Bluetooth. Just total crap now. Not sure how else to say it. So disappointed. I would give 0 stars if I could. **Developer response:** Update on 7/7 - please reach out to support@noveleffect.com and we can assist! There has been no changes to the free tier so there must be a misunderstanding. I do note that the 5 free reads per month doesn't include access to the subscriber only soundscapes. Please understand too that we are a small family company and the only way we are able to keep the app and add new stories is from the support of our subscribers. There are absolutely no ads. We hope you'll reconsider and help to support us! Update on 2/9 - thank you for reaching out. In order to keep adding more great stories to the app, it was necessary to make some adjustments to our free tier. You can always access free content and enjoy them an unlimited amount. I’m sorry to hear about your tech issues. Please get in touch at support@noveleffect.com and I’m sure we can get it fixed. Thank you for your feedback, and we are very sorry our initial versions did not meet your expectations. I am proud to say we have just released a new version (1.60) that is completely rebuilt from ground up. Please give us one more try! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Brilliant *2026-07-17, version 3.10.1* I have used this app for a few years. Seems to just get better and better all the time? Love it!! ### 5/5 — Interrupting Chicken *2026-07-14, version 3.10.1* What an adorable story! Novel Effects brings to life, Chicken! I will be giving Novel Effects and Interrupting Chicken, as a gift to my next birthday party invite! What a treasure! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ### 5/5 — Best App *2026-06-28, version 3.10.1* This makes story time so engaging and fun!! I love this app ### 5/5 — The Very Hungry Caterpillar *2026-06-23, version 3.10.1* Fantastic ### 5/5 — French please? *2026-03-17* I read in French to the kiddos is there a French language option? Thank you ### 5/5 — Love it but *2026-03-08, version 3.9* Needs a lot more stories. ### 5/5 — Grandmother’s Fun *2026-03-06, version 3.9* One of the best apps for a toddler who loves to read! Keeps her attention and adds so much to the story. ### 5/5 — What are the best? *2026-02-12, version 3.9* But I have to pay this year from samuel could you make me make it free for me? I found another app to do it for me. Thank you for free bye and I'll delete the score and put it ### 5/5 — All the books *2026-02-05, version 3.9* are great, says my grand daughter ### 5/5 — It’s so good I *2026-01-30, version 3.9* I love this app. It’s so nice. I just read a book that’s so relaxing and it makes me fall asleep like a boom. I love it so much perfect chefs kiss --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-10.*