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alexandrabree's review against another edition
5.0
Horns 5/5
NOS4A2 5/5
Heart Shaped Box 4/5
20th century ghosts 3/5 (as a short story collection it was quite this mixed bag loved a few, was bored by a few)
NOS4A2 5/5
Heart Shaped Box 4/5
20th century ghosts 3/5 (as a short story collection it was quite this mixed bag loved a few, was bored by a few)
punkkat64's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a big fan of Joe Hill. These books are creative, modern horror. I have reread all of the these books, multiple times.
There's a certain amount of dark humor in Horns, which is surprising given the difficult and disturbing details of plot points.
NOS4A2 is an ambitious story, that carefully and successfully navigates jumping from multiple settings, characters, and time frames. And it works. wonderfully so.
There's a certain amount of dark humor in Horns, which is surprising given the difficult and disturbing details of plot points.
NOS4A2 is an ambitious story, that carefully and successfully navigates jumping from multiple settings, characters, and time frames. And it works. wonderfully so.
lanternatomika's review against another edition
3.0
As amazing as Joe Hill's novels are, the thing he's really famous for is comics. To be more precise, Locke and Key. Well, this isn't Locke and Key, but this book does contain a few other graphic novellas. Here's how that breaks down:
The Cape: The thing that Hill has in common with Stephen King is an absolutely insane imagination, and yet the specific insanity of that imagination is also what sets them apart. So it was kinda disappointing to read The Cape and turns out it's just another of those stories where someone gets super powers and decides to do bAaAad things with them. Not great, not terrible, gonna give this a lower rating than 3.6 3/5
The Cape 1969: At one point in The Cape, it is mentioned that the patch on the super powered blanket/cape came home from Vietnam. On that flimsy little basis, we get the origin story of the cape. As a story, it's perhaps more interesting than The Cape was, but it's also an unnecessary origin story, so on the balance, it gets the same score as The Cape 3/5
Thumbprint: I don't know if I would tell you to get this book just for this story, but it is pretty good. I can't recall the horrors of Abu Ghraib being part of the backstory of any character I've ever seen, but Thumbprint is a pretty interesting and entertaining exploration of what happens when a soldier has to cut out their humanity to survive a war, and then they come home. Not essential, but a bright spot in the collection 3.5/5
Kodiak: In ye olde Europe, a guy kisses a noblewoman, which pisses off her brother, who then throws him into a dungeon with a bear, and the guy survives the encounter. There's nothing more to it than that, and it feels like an intermission in the book more than anything else 2.5/5
Wraith: NOS4R2 is one of my favorite books I've read in 2020, so you best believe I was interested in Wraith - that actually is the main reason I got this book in the first place. Some things about Wraith are good, some are not. Seeing Christmasland, with that weird-ass moon, was definitely good. Charlie Manx's backstory was good. But the overall story about how three prisoners and a cop have to survive Christmasland is so far removed from the kind of story of NOS4R2 was, it can be difficult to stay involved in it. Wraith does stick to the novel's themes of child abuse and parental love, but not in as interesting a way as the novel did. Fantastic artwork, though 3/5
Overall: 3/5
The Cape: The thing that Hill has in common with Stephen King is an absolutely insane imagination, and yet the specific insanity of that imagination is also what sets them apart. So it was kinda disappointing to read The Cape and turns out it's just another of those stories where someone gets super powers and decides to do bAaAad things with them. Not great, not terrible, gonna give this a lower rating than 3.6 3/5
The Cape 1969: At one point in The Cape, it is mentioned that the patch on the super powered blanket/cape came home from Vietnam. On that flimsy little basis, we get the origin story of the cape. As a story, it's perhaps more interesting than The Cape was, but it's also an unnecessary origin story, so on the balance, it gets the same score as The Cape 3/5
Thumbprint: I don't know if I would tell you to get this book just for this story, but it is pretty good. I can't recall the horrors of Abu Ghraib being part of the backstory of any character I've ever seen, but Thumbprint is a pretty interesting and entertaining exploration of what happens when a soldier has to cut out their humanity to survive a war, and then they come home. Not essential, but a bright spot in the collection 3.5/5
Kodiak: In ye olde Europe, a guy kisses a noblewoman, which pisses off her brother, who then throws him into a dungeon with a bear, and the guy survives the encounter. There's nothing more to it than that, and it feels like an intermission in the book more than anything else 2.5/5
Wraith: NOS4R2 is one of my favorite books I've read in 2020, so you best believe I was interested in Wraith - that actually is the main reason I got this book in the first place. Some things about Wraith are good, some are not. Seeing Christmasland, with that weird-ass moon, was definitely good. Charlie Manx's backstory was good. But the overall story about how three prisoners and a cop have to survive Christmasland is so far removed from the kind of story of NOS4R2 was, it can be difficult to stay involved in it. Wraith does stick to the novel's themes of child abuse and parental love, but not in as interesting a way as the novel did. Fantastic artwork, though 3/5
Overall: 3/5
micah_thelibrarian's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thebookmagpie1989's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
fallenprincess's review against another edition
5.0
If you love Joe Hill or horror comics please read this. It's essentially for 2 of it's stories: the cape amd wraith. They were perfection. The other stories were ok but I felt like I got a good quality overall
speculativebecky's review against another edition
4.0
The first three of these stories were horror in my less favorite vein, where the main character of the story is not the/a good guy. I prefer a story where I'm rooting for the protagonist against something horrifying, rather than just witnessing them wreak havoc on innocent - or even guilty - people. I still quite enjoyed The Cape, a super dark and intense story. The Cape: 1969 was a letdown as a prequel for me. Thumbprint was interesting but didn't wholly come together into a coherent story. Finally, Kodiak was my favorite and surprised me with its tenderness in contrast to the rest of this collection.
jo_in_bookland's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the stories in this dark graphic novel collection, except for Thumbrint which depicted brutal situations of war which no doubt reflect real-world realities. My favourite was probably The Wraith as it brought me back into the creepy world of Christmasland. It was interesting to get the story behind its creation.
The illustrations for all stories were excellent!
The illustrations for all stories were excellent!
jobis89's review
3.0
Just a quick review for this one! I'd already read Wraith so there was only 3 graphic novels to read in this collection: The Cape, Thumbprint and Kodiak.
I have to say, The Cape was absolutely amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So dark and sinister. Haunting. But the other 2 kinda let me down! I just didn't think they were that great at all. Wraith, of course, was awesome, so felt like 3 stars was a happy medium for this entire collection.
I have to say, The Cape was absolutely amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So dark and sinister. Haunting. But the other 2 kinda let me down! I just didn't think they were that great at all. Wraith, of course, was awesome, so felt like 3 stars was a happy medium for this entire collection.
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