Reviews

Fahr zur Hölle, Mister B. by Clive Barker

gwensapple's review against another edition

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3.0

The book is written as an autobiography from a demon. The demon speaks to you and so you are also a character in the book. It took awhile for me before it started to get good. I almost DNF’d it in the first quarter. It’s not my favourite book, but I’m glad I kept reading. It’s silly in the beginning, but not haha funny. There are also a few points where I felt like it lost the plot or added a gruesome scene for the sole purpose to be gruesome. The “burn this book” gets really repetitive as well. But once you get about half way into the book, you really start to get to know Jakabok (the demon) better and his views and opinions on humans and the darker side of humanity. At first, I felt this book was around 2 stars for me, but after completing it, I think overall it is a solid 3 stars. It’s also a very quick read that you could finish in a weekend if you wanted to. It’s definitely a creative take, and the book cover design was really well done and added to the story.

kapatin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

tracib's review against another edition

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1.0

Got halfway through and I just couldn't bring myself to finish. I realized that the only reason I was reading was because it was a Clive Barker book, and if it was any other author I would have stopped. So I stopped. I just couldn't care about the main character, he wasn't a very interesting demon. And the whole "burn this book" gimmick got very tedious by page 2. I'm not going to burn it, but it is going in the giveaway pile. Life's too short to read bad books.

rosie1511's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

4.5

darylb's review against another edition

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4.0

My least favorite Clive Barker book. But still a great read

guadaloop's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

The incessant pleas to burn the book grew tiresome. The concept of the Demonation, complete with families, eludes me with what little is explained of it. Jakabok can be funny, and his doomed romance with Quitoon was predictably the highlight of the book for me, but he's too one-dimensional for me overall. Barker can write some winning lines and he excels at gruesome details, but the plot was too thin, and not developed well or coherently enough to be satisfying in the end.

What I did love most, aside from the dramatic gay psuedo divorce between Jakabok and Quitoon, was the design of the pages, as if they were written in old parchment and
truly the first printed book. I had seen that twist coming from miles away when the name Gutenberg was first mentioned, by the way. I did think the "Angels and Demons are the same, actually" twist was delivered in too hammy of a way to be impactful also.

emumick's review against another edition

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3.0

Weird read throughout, took me far longer to get through just because it was not engaging. Having the constant "Stop reading!" Was fun at the start but got old fast.
Anti-climactic ending.

exorcismemily's review against another edition

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2.0

If you are wanting to read 248 pages of nonsense, pick up Mister B. Gone.

aquila83's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

1.5