Almost no one praises the books! In fact, that's the one caveat in most otherwise glowing reviews; that is a testament to the game design, that the only concrete narrative is the least effective narrative. However! - I think Blow was at least trying to do something that explains how stilted it seems, though I'm not entirely sure what. For example: it takes only a slightly charitable perspective to make a coherent story when the books are read in reverse order, and confirmation bias be damned, it seems intentional.

To me, the books wouldn't be that much of a problem. After all most games have some form of written or cineatic storytelling. But Blow's rants against traditional games makes it seem a bit hypocritical that he had to resort to (only) the books for his storytelling. I mean the ending combines story and mechanic and I wished there was something in the other levels that emphasized the content of the books.

There is though, I can't recall the specific buts I believe in world three the books talk about how the main character needs to be immune to the princesses' power (or charm, or something) and then the level introduces you to the items that aren't affected by time reversal.