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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
3.5 stars
This book was what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. It’s not a masterpiece, or something that I think will linger with me, but it held my attention and urged me to finish it within a single day.
The plot is engaging and fun, a kind of road trip slugfest with some spooky ghosts. Although the book started out with very shallowly drawn side characters, I came to realize that this was because they were viewed through Judas’s point of view, and as he became less shallow and self-absorbed, the other characters became more fleshed out as he began to see them deeper than the surface level.
The dogs were scene-stealers and a total highlight. Dogs will always protect you from evil, and I find this a very comforting thought.
There were a few too many plot threads, many of which didn’t end up going anywhere (though I admired the creativity, and hope to see similar ideas refined and tightened in later novels). The author seemed to shrink back from some of the in-your-head psychological horror that characterizes the very best of his father’s books, so in the end this book was a scary story that wasn’t, all told, terribly horrifying. But it was great fun.
This book was what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. It’s not a masterpiece, or something that I think will linger with me, but it held my attention and urged me to finish it within a single day.
The plot is engaging and fun, a kind of road trip slugfest with some spooky ghosts. Although the book started out with very shallowly drawn side characters, I came to realize that this was because they were viewed through Judas’s point of view, and as he became less shallow and self-absorbed, the other characters became more fleshed out as he began to see them deeper than the surface level.
The dogs were scene-stealers and a total highlight. Dogs will always protect you from evil, and I find this a very comforting thought.
There were a few too many plot threads, many of which didn’t end up going anywhere (though I admired the creativity, and hope to see similar ideas refined and tightened in later novels). The author seemed to shrink back from some of the in-your-head psychological horror that characterizes the very best of his father’s books, so in the end this book was a scary story that wasn’t, all told, terribly horrifying. But it was great fun.
Hill, the son of Stephen King, isn't short on ways to scare. After all was said and done, I thought he could have done well to cut down a bit. Truthfully, the most interesting part of the book is the setup: an aging rocker (think maybe a slightly toned-down Manson or Reznor) buys a ghost off of an ebay-ish website. If Heart Shaped Box had been a short story, it would have absolutely killed. The other thing that was a bit troubling: the neat and tidy ending. Not what I would have expected given all the guts and gore and darkness.
Decent story, decently written, but my main gripe with this book is "woman-as-showpiece," "woman-as-savior," "woman-as-sidekick." I get that the protagonist is a dude but the women in this book get short shrift, especially the long-suffering girlfriend, who really reads as just there. It annoyed the hell out of me. So glad Hill moved on to writing a book (N0S4A2) with a woman that at least has a smidgen of agency and is not just a vehicle for some dude's personal growth. Gah. Such a pet peeve for me.
Seriously. This is a terrific horror novel. I'd find myself with gooseflesh and the feeling that I was being watched nearly every page. Even when things were slow there was always something really frightening around every corner. There also was a wonderful lack of the cheap gory scare in favor of real psychological/supernatural fear.
Awesome book.
Awesome book.
It's a short, interesting, semi-horror story that I wouldn't really recommend to everyone. It's like a small snack between satisfying meals.
I liked the beginning a lot but it went downhill for me after that. I thought it was ok, but not anything too compelling. I skimmed quite a bit at the end.
Crying over the end. What a wild book. I honestly had no idea what it was about going into it. However, the poor violence against the women, they can never catch a break. And the poor dogs omg
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
'Fashionably depressed'... 'psycho' because she's 'very bipolar'... 'pre-adolescent schizophrenia'. Just wow, the hateful way this book treats mental illness already made it a one star, only finished because I hate leaving a book unfinished. It was also just not scary, although it was trying hard to be. It was hugely predictable in many aspects, including that it was obvious the dogs were going to die. This would normally elicit crying from me, as I can't stand animal cruelty, and it can be a horror trope, but the way it was handled took the emotion out of it. I also have Horns by Joe Hill, and haven't read it yet - my hope is that it will be a far better book, but I'm not holding my breath.
This book was meant to be a horror but I didn't find it scary at all. At first I found it a little bit silly, but after a while I got into the story and just enjoyed it for that. I ended up really liking the two main characters and found myself caring about what was going to happen to them. I don't think it should really be classed as a horror but I liked it anyway.