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natashiataylor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
edtkeith's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely stellar from beginning to end. I'm ready for another trip to Christmasland.
g100507's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
emrodav's review against another edition
5.0
Goodness, I loved this book. (And you kind of have to enjoy it to get through all 700 pages, let's be honest.) I'm not super familiar with modern horror novels, although I did read Hill's Heart Shaped Box and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved NOS4A2 just as much, if not more.
It's an amazing blend of horror, fantasy, psychology, action, and family drama. I loved the bits devoted to family connections, especially how Vic felt about Lou (my favorite character!) and Wayne. She was so real, a woman dealing with the power of her mind, convinced she is crazy and unfit for her child. When I was kid, and even now, I was always the person with the over-active imagination, and related so much to Vic and her struggles with the balance between reality and imagination.
The book is genuinely creepy and frightening at parts--especially when Bing is the focus. (That man and his worldview honestly made me a little sick at times, but I never thought Hill went too far.) The children and Christmasland were both also delightfully creepy. Manx and his conviction were really interesting to read about, too (though I would have liked more back story).
Overall, NOS4A2 is probably the best horror novel I've ever read, and honestly, I'd read another 700 pages about these characters if Joe Hill wrote it. Until his next book comes out, though, I'll re-read NOS4A2.
It's an amazing blend of horror, fantasy, psychology, action, and family drama. I loved the bits devoted to family connections, especially how Vic felt about Lou (my favorite character!) and Wayne. She was so real, a woman dealing with the power of her mind, convinced she is crazy and unfit for her child. When I was kid, and even now, I was always the person with the over-active imagination, and related so much to Vic and her struggles with the balance between reality and imagination.
The book is genuinely creepy and frightening at parts--especially when Bing is the focus. (That man and his worldview honestly made me a little sick at times, but I never thought Hill went too far.) The children and Christmasland were both also delightfully creepy. Manx and his conviction were really interesting to read about, too (though I would have liked more back story).
Overall, NOS4A2 is probably the best horror novel I've ever read, and honestly, I'd read another 700 pages about these characters if Joe Hill wrote it. Until his next book comes out, though, I'll re-read NOS4A2.
stephy_bookworld's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
aceinit's review against another edition
2.0
This novel didn't quite grip me the way Hill's other works did. Though the story is readable, it never truly pulled me in, and I often caught my attention wandering even at key moments. I tried both reading the novel and listening to audiobook, which is excellently narrated by Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek fame. But regardless of the medium, I couldn't fall into the story. Too many parts of the novel dragged for me, enough so that when something truly exciting finally started, I still wasn't rapidly turning the next page to see what happened.
Though I liked Vic, I never fell in love with her or her story, which is disappointing, given the recurring themes of love in all its incarnations. The book has the feel of a novel that's too long for the story that it's trying to tell, as though it spent too long trying to craft relationships between characters without actually making those relationships worth reading about. And too much time is devoted to throwaway characters, such as the hospital security guard who has a run-in with Manx and a few others who cross paths with either Manx or Vic. The book would have benefited greatly had it been around a hundred pages shorter.
Charlie Manx, though definitely terrifying, always felt one-dimensional in a movie monster sort of way. Reading the Bing sections were worse. I always found myself wanting to skip over them because he was too unlikable. Not in a "he's a bad guy" kind of way, or in an "I didn't like reading about the acts he committed" kind of way. Bing did some horrible, horrible things which were depicted vividly by the author, but he never struck me as anything other than an annoyance, a character whose sections I wanted to flip past so we could get back to the main act.
And, though I am loathe to use this comparison given Hill's family tree, it reads very much like a 1980's Stephen King novel.
I wanted to like this book, particularly given how stellar "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Horns" were, but in the end I just couldn't quite get there.
Though I liked Vic, I never fell in love with her or her story, which is disappointing, given the recurring themes of love in all its incarnations. The book has the feel of a novel that's too long for the story that it's trying to tell, as though it spent too long trying to craft relationships between characters without actually making those relationships worth reading about. And too much time is devoted to throwaway characters, such as the hospital security guard who has a run-in with Manx and a few others who cross paths with either Manx or Vic. The book would have benefited greatly had it been around a hundred pages shorter.
Charlie Manx, though definitely terrifying, always felt one-dimensional in a movie monster sort of way. Reading the Bing sections were worse. I always found myself wanting to skip over them because he was too unlikable. Not in a "he's a bad guy" kind of way, or in an "I didn't like reading about the acts he committed" kind of way. Bing did some horrible, horrible things which were depicted vividly by the author, but he never struck me as anything other than an annoyance, a character whose sections I wanted to flip past so we could get back to the main act.
And, though I am loathe to use this comparison given Hill's family tree, it reads very much like a 1980's Stephen King novel.
I wanted to like this book, particularly given how stellar "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Horns" were, but in the end I just couldn't quite get there.
lexicon3000's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I’m being a little generous I think, but I feel like I went in with unfair expectations for Stephen King’s son.
I really loved the beginning of the book, I felt like I was reading a uniquely different version of “IT” in the best way…but it ended up falling a little flat for me. I loved the main characters, but we kind of jumped through time and through the love story and I felt a disconnect. The beginning was SO strong. Visualizing Haverhill, the shortaway bridge, the bats with the brat’s face on them… it was so juicy and good! The details were amazing.
But I didn’t really feel like it connected the metaphors of its own story. Christmasland is never really explained, we don’t get the POV of many other characters other than Vic and when we do we learn very little about them.
I think I just wanted even more, which is good and bad! I really enjoyed the read though and look forward to reading his other books.
I really loved the beginning of the book, I felt like I was reading a uniquely different version of “IT” in the best way…but it ended up falling a little flat for me. I loved the main characters, but we kind of jumped through time and through the love story and I felt a disconnect. The beginning was SO strong. Visualizing Haverhill, the shortaway bridge, the bats with the brat’s face on them… it was so juicy and good! The details were amazing.
But I didn’t really feel like it connected the metaphors of its own story. Christmasland is never really explained, we don’t get the POV of many other characters other than Vic and when we do we learn very little about them.
I think I just wanted even more, which is good and bad! I really enjoyed the read though and look forward to reading his other books.
natnoble18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0