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amy123456789's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
werdnamich's review against another edition
3.0
Victoria McQueen’s son has been taken by Charlie Manx, the same man who destroyed her life when she was a child. Using her gift for finding things, she is now the only person who can stop Manx from claiming yet another child’s soul.
This is my second Joe Hill book and I think the problem I have with his books is that I can't seem to care about the main character. At all. Hill seemed to go to great lengths to have the reader sympathise with Vic, which is what made the book extremely long and unnecessarily so, and I just could not for the life of me care about her at all. In fact I think I gave more of a damn about her son Wayne and husband (?) Lou, which is why I’m even giving this a 3 star rating – the ending was excellent, more I felt because of Wayne and Lou than Vic.
I really feel the book could have been much shorter and as a result perhaps more gripping than I found it. Although it claims to be thrilling and terrifying, I did not find the book scary - Charlie Manx was cartoonish, if anything, and Manx’s minion, Bing, was quite disgusting, and more often than not annoying with his excessive rhyming and singing. For the most part I was quite bored with all the elaborate descriptions of trivial characters and events, which is probably why it’s taken me – what? – two months to finish this book.
So I am in the minority with my take on this particular Joe Hill novel. It had its moments but in the end I’m only going to remember it as that book that took me two months to finish.
Spoiler
for immortalityThis is my second Joe Hill book and I think the problem I have with his books is that I can't seem to care about the main character. At all. Hill seemed to go to great lengths to have the reader sympathise with Vic, which is what made the book extremely long and unnecessarily so, and I just could not for the life of me care about her at all. In fact I think I gave more of a damn about her son Wayne and husband (?) Lou, which is why I’m even giving this a 3 star rating – the ending was excellent, more I felt because of Wayne and Lou than Vic.
I really feel the book could have been much shorter and as a result perhaps more gripping than I found it. Although it claims to be thrilling and terrifying, I did not find the book scary - Charlie Manx was cartoonish, if anything, and Manx’s minion, Bing, was quite disgusting, and more often than not annoying with his excessive rhyming and singing. For the most part I was quite bored with all the elaborate descriptions of trivial characters and events, which is probably why it’s taken me – what? – two months to finish this book.
So I am in the minority with my take on this particular Joe Hill novel. It had its moments but in the end I’m only going to remember it as that book that took me two months to finish.
graveyardpansy's review against another edition
2.0
this book SUCKS but not quite bad enough to warrant a 1-star. it spooked me a bit at a few points, so I guess it can have a star for that. But there are so many bad things and I’ve already ranted abt it to many friends, so no need to type it all out here.
lurker_stalker's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly good This book was recommended by a good friend and I enjoy thrillers so I figured I'd give it a shot. I picked up the audio book from my local library and jumped in.
It didn't grab me right away but I think that may have had more to do with the narration than the story. Ms. Mulgrew was fantastic for most of the voices but there were at least two that made me want to turn it off and not go back. But I wanted to finish the book and chat about it with my buddy so I gritted my teeth and stuck it out.
I thought the concept was really interesting - certain people being able to project their internal realities into physical reality tied in with serial killing, child abduction, and vampirism. The main characters - protagonist and antagonist - were moderately interesting.
While I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it. Besides the narration (it was Bing and Lou which bothered me the most), the writing style and some word choices (Wayne's voice didn't ring true for me) made it really hard for me to stay immersed in the story.
I'm glad that I stuck it out because the last few chapters made it a worthwhile read but I don't know that I'd read another book by this author.
It didn't grab me right away but I think that may have had more to do with the narration than the story. Ms. Mulgrew was fantastic for most of the voices but there were at least two that made me want to turn it off and not go back. But I wanted to finish the book and chat about it with my buddy so I gritted my teeth and stuck it out.
I thought the concept was really interesting - certain people being able to project their internal realities into physical reality tied in with serial killing, child abduction, and vampirism. The main characters - protagonist and antagonist - were moderately interesting.
While I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it. Besides the narration (it was Bing and Lou which bothered me the most), the writing style and some word choices (Wayne's voice didn't ring true for me) made it really hard for me to stay immersed in the story.
I'm glad that I stuck it out because the last few chapters made it a worthwhile read but I don't know that I'd read another book by this author.
humhallelujah6's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
amelessard's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
smelendez's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
qjbrown96's review against another edition
3.0
This book was really really good in the beginning and then it dropped off for me. Joe Hill writes like a mixture of Dean Koontz and Stephen King (go figure). This story is not a traditional vampire story like I thought it would be. The villain is basically a guy who is called a vampire, has a bunch of needle teeth, and the way he stays young is by “saving” kids from an abusive home and bringing them to a horrific Lovecraft utopia called “Christmasland” in his 1932 Rolls Royce that magically turns the child into a monster like him and rejuvenates him into looking younger. This story is a bit out there if you ask me but worth reading at least once in your life.