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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This was a really interesting story.
The fact that there are two sides to the story and shows what Americans feel towards individuals that are different, in this aspect it was around a spore driven infection. As I was reading this story it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Which I feel had a parallel to the story.
One of my favorite parts was when a character mentioned that there were actually 2 viruses affecting the country. Those viruses being the spore and the other being stupidity. Which explains how the healthy will do anything to try and stay healthy.
The fact that there are two sides to the story and shows what Americans feel towards individuals that are different, in this aspect it was around a spore driven infection. As I was reading this story it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Which I feel had a parallel to the story.
One of my favorite parts was when a character mentioned that there were actually 2 viruses affecting the country. Those viruses being the spore and the other being stupidity. Which explains how the healthy will do anything to try and stay healthy.
The Fireman has had quite a bit of hype before the release. A famous and favorite author of mine is publishing yet another novel? A strange virus that makes the sickly spontaneously combust? Of course I want to grab this the second it gets on the market! A killer excerpt (linked at the bottom of this review) grabbed me from the get-go and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this novel since. Unfortunately I couldn’t crack this open until a couple of months after release - not by my choice. Yet I’ve managed to successful dodge any reviews that might spoil me. Unfortunately, this is a novel that does not lives up to the hype, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my experience or that this is a bad book.
The first thing I noticed is Hill’s attention to detail in the creation of his characters. More than just a story about a terrible (almost humorously so) virus, The Fireman is a novel about the human psyche under stress. Jakob, Harper’s husband, is the absolute dreamiest man ever. Like, so perfect I wondered if this was originally written specifically for women as a romance novel. Basically, Joe Hill knows how to make a woman swoon and could be a very successful romance author if he wanted to (but please don’t because I love your books the way they are). All good things must come to an end, though, and it’s not really a spoiler when I say this sweetness didn’t last long. A handful of chapters later, it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge. Turns out her perfectly sculpted husband is actually a complete nut. Even though I knew what to expect of Jakob the Psycho, I was caught off guard by the grand reveal. I found Jakob’s transformation into his true self over such a short period a beautiful work of art - the absolute best to absolute worst person. That’s just the beginning. Every character Harper meets along her journey is carefully crafted and vividly expressed. Many you will despise and a few you will love.
Some readers may actually hate Harper. She sings to people at the hospital, is a fictional reincarnation of Mary Poppins, and wishes Julia Andrews would portray her in a movie adaption of her life. She’s the type of person who would be joyfully skipping at 4:30AM on a chilly morning without a cup of coffee. Harper is the light in a dark world, the sweet among the sour. She often doesn’t fight hard enough to get out of trouble, or, in the first place, even try to avoid trouble in this very dangerous world. She’s kind of dense, but really she just loves the simple things in life and that’s pleasing to me. I love who she is, despite her faults. Jakob’s juxtaposing personality traits are very similar to how Harper stands out against the rest of the world.
Apocalyptic type novels with global pandemics have been very popular this decade. I always worry that the tipping point in quality works has been met, but I continue to be surprised. Of all the diseases I have seen in literature, Dragonscale is the most beautiful. Intricate designs in black and gold flakes weave across the host’s body as they’re slowly consumed by the virus. It even seems that the designs are tailored to the person’s own passions in life. Okay, occasionally, there might be smoke coming out of someone’s ears and a few people turn into balls of flaming flesh for no reason at all, but hey! At least they look good while doing that, right? The disease origins aren’t fully explained, which is a bit of a let down, but reasons are hinted at. We also don’t know how the rest of the world is managing or how widespread the sickness is. Harper’s community is almost entirely cut off from society. News broadcasts are limited to the radio which has been taken over by “healthy” vigilantes bent on purging the world of the ill. The outside world perhaps doesn’t matter because all that remains are living and the dead - even being sick doesn’t ultimately matter.
Planet Earth keeps on spinning despite the tragedy unfolding in north east United States. While communications are still strong early on, the rest of the world acknowledges something terrible is going down, but doesn’t seem involved in curing or aiding the inflicted. Honestly, quite a actually realistic response. Even in reality, the worst could be unfolding in some unnamed country and the majority of the world looks the other way. That’s exactly the same scenario in The Fireman. It’s every man for themselves except for the few that take it upon themselves to cleanse the population. This is a very 2016 centered novel. Who knows how well it’ll age filled with obscure pop culture and current presidential election references. Even ISIS is given as one of the many possible reasons why the virus started.
Another downside is the length. I love long novels, don’t get me wrong, but some novels are unnecessarily long. The Fireman is one of those novels. Joe Hill writes beautifully, but describes things very in-depth. I don’t think this novel in particular needed that. At some moments I thought “Alright, let’s get to the point.” Those points that I often complained did come into play later on, but much later on. I do not believe they needed that much build up - especially at the exact moments they were brought up - to express their eventual importance.
Honestly, I’m not quite confident in what to rate this book as it’s something I liked, but maybe didn’t love yet is objectively a good book. The Fireman is an interesting look at our society with a splash of romance, violence, and thrills. I’m glad I read it; I just wish the novel was a few hundred pages shorter.
------------------
Read an excerpt here.
Author Joe Hill’s Website | Tumblr | Twitter
------------------
I received an eARC of The Fireman by Joe Hill from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My Blog | Instagram | Twitter
The first thing I noticed is Hill’s attention to detail in the creation of his characters. More than just a story about a terrible (almost humorously so) virus, The Fireman is a novel about the human psyche under stress. Jakob, Harper’s husband, is the absolute dreamiest man ever. Like, so perfect I wondered if this was originally written specifically for women as a romance novel. Basically, Joe Hill knows how to make a woman swoon and could be a very successful romance author if he wanted to (but please don’t because I love your books the way they are). All good things must come to an end, though, and it’s not really a spoiler when I say this sweetness didn’t last long. A handful of chapters later, it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge. Turns out her perfectly sculpted husband is actually a complete nut. Even though I knew what to expect of Jakob the Psycho, I was caught off guard by the grand reveal. I found Jakob’s transformation into his true self over such a short period a beautiful work of art - the absolute best to absolute worst person. That’s just the beginning. Every character Harper meets along her journey is carefully crafted and vividly expressed. Many you will despise and a few you will love.
Some readers may actually hate Harper. She sings to people at the hospital, is a fictional reincarnation of Mary Poppins, and wishes Julia Andrews would portray her in a movie adaption of her life. She’s the type of person who would be joyfully skipping at 4:30AM on a chilly morning without a cup of coffee. Harper is the light in a dark world, the sweet among the sour. She often doesn’t fight hard enough to get out of trouble, or, in the first place, even try to avoid trouble in this very dangerous world. She’s kind of dense, but really she just loves the simple things in life and that’s pleasing to me. I love who she is, despite her faults. Jakob’s juxtaposing personality traits are very similar to how Harper stands out against the rest of the world.
Apocalyptic type novels with global pandemics have been very popular this decade. I always worry that the tipping point in quality works has been met, but I continue to be surprised. Of all the diseases I have seen in literature, Dragonscale is the most beautiful. Intricate designs in black and gold flakes weave across the host’s body as they’re slowly consumed by the virus. It even seems that the designs are tailored to the person’s own passions in life. Okay, occasionally, there might be smoke coming out of someone’s ears and a few people turn into balls of flaming flesh for no reason at all, but hey! At least they look good while doing that, right? The disease origins aren’t fully explained, which is a bit of a let down, but reasons are hinted at. We also don’t know how the rest of the world is managing or how widespread the sickness is. Harper’s community is almost entirely cut off from society. News broadcasts are limited to the radio which has been taken over by “healthy” vigilantes bent on purging the world of the ill. The outside world perhaps doesn’t matter because all that remains are living and the dead - even being sick doesn’t ultimately matter.
Planet Earth keeps on spinning despite the tragedy unfolding in north east United States. While communications are still strong early on, the rest of the world acknowledges something terrible is going down, but doesn’t seem involved in curing or aiding the inflicted. Honestly, quite a actually realistic response. Even in reality, the worst could be unfolding in some unnamed country and the majority of the world looks the other way. That’s exactly the same scenario in The Fireman. It’s every man for themselves except for the few that take it upon themselves to cleanse the population. This is a very 2016 centered novel. Who knows how well it’ll age filled with obscure pop culture and current presidential election references. Even ISIS is given as one of the many possible reasons why the virus started.
Another downside is the length. I love long novels, don’t get me wrong, but some novels are unnecessarily long. The Fireman is one of those novels. Joe Hill writes beautifully, but describes things very in-depth. I don’t think this novel in particular needed that. At some moments I thought “Alright, let’s get to the point.” Those points that I often complained did come into play later on, but much later on. I do not believe they needed that much build up - especially at the exact moments they were brought up - to express their eventual importance.
Honestly, I’m not quite confident in what to rate this book as it’s something I liked, but maybe didn’t love yet is objectively a good book. The Fireman is an interesting look at our society with a splash of romance, violence, and thrills. I’m glad I read it; I just wish the novel was a few hundred pages shorter.
------------------
Read an excerpt here.
Author Joe Hill’s Website | Tumblr | Twitter
------------------
I received an eARC of The Fireman by Joe Hill from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My Blog | Instagram | Twitter
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm just going to preface this review by saying that I don't think this is a bad story. It is just a story told incredibly poorly.
Joe Hill has all of the makings of an interesting concept: a contagious disease that eventually kills people by spontaneous combustion, a roving gang of toughs trying to exterminate them, and a pregnant woman trying to find a safe place. He has created an intriguing universe, but the characters in it are just saltines. Bland and boring with barely a hint of flavor. Not only that, but the story he chooses to tell feels like such a tiny portion of a much more interesting universe. And he tells it badly.
The dialogue is absurd and stilted, often inexplicably verbose and reminiscent of an old Dawson's Creek episode. No one talks like this. The protagonist is an idealized, saintly blonde nurse who the author is clearly in love with, and the rest of the characters are just forgettable. Even the titular fireman is boring. And the SINGING, I could not understand how a novel could have so much SINGING in it.
But the worst part is the smattering of pop culture references that feel like they were just thrown at the book to see what would stick. There is a strange Mary Poppins through-line that feels completely unnecessary and shoehorned-in, like the only purpose is to let the reader know that Joe Hill is obsessed with the movie.
This is not an aggressively BAD book, it's just a waste of time. It tells an incredibly long-winded story that could have easily been cut in half and kept more than enough plot. Joe Hill's writing feels juvenile and weird, like he's never heard real people have an actual conversation. I do not recommend this book, unless you want to feel very let down and confused.
Joe Hill has all of the makings of an interesting concept: a contagious disease that eventually kills people by spontaneous combustion, a roving gang of toughs trying to exterminate them, and a pregnant woman trying to find a safe place. He has created an intriguing universe, but the characters in it are just saltines. Bland and boring with barely a hint of flavor. Not only that, but the story he chooses to tell feels like such a tiny portion of a much more interesting universe. And he tells it badly.
The dialogue is absurd and stilted, often inexplicably verbose and reminiscent of an old Dawson's Creek episode. No one talks like this. The protagonist is an idealized, saintly blonde nurse who the author is clearly in love with, and the rest of the characters are just forgettable. Even the titular fireman is boring. And the SINGING, I could not understand how a novel could have so much SINGING in it.
But the worst part is the smattering of pop culture references that feel like they were just thrown at the book to see what would stick. There is a strange Mary Poppins through-line that feels completely unnecessary and shoehorned-in, like the only purpose is to let the reader know that Joe Hill is obsessed with the movie.
This is not an aggressively BAD book, it's just a waste of time. It tells an incredibly long-winded story that could have easily been cut in half and kept more than enough plot. Joe Hill's writing feels juvenile and weird, like he's never heard real people have an actual conversation. I do not recommend this book, unless you want to feel very let down and confused.
This book needed some serious editing. So many story lines. So many characters that were half developed. Sooooooo many half-assed pop culture references.... Mr. Hill, can you just write something as good as Horns again? Please?
One of the strangest books I’ve ever read. It was a long and winding tale, but I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot.
I really enjoyed this book, but before I can talk about that I have to get something off my chest. Kate, sweetie, I really enjoy your narration but it's pronounced "ma-chai-us" NOT "ma-chee-us". Someone really should have told you that because, and I don't know about everyone else, this Mainer was wicked irked EACH AND EVERY TIME it was mispronounced. That's part of why it's losing a star because, for me, it pulled me out of the moment EVERY TIME. Okay, phew.
SO, Joe Hill has become one of my favourite authors this past year. At the moment, my "I will always read your book first" author list is something like V.E. Schwab, Jeff Zentner, Edgar Cantero, and Joe Hill (maybe Jay Kristoff in 5th?) I love his well-developed characters and interesting "what-if" scenarios. For some reason, I really resonated with Harper and was really invested in her story. I wondered what things would be like for me in that sci-fi/dystopian scenario and if I would make similar choices.
Kate Mulgrew is the perfect narrator for Joe's stories. I first listened to her read his NOS4A2 and was sooo into her narration. I can't wait to see what they pair up for next!
Oh! By the way, if you listened to this make sure to listen past the acknowledgements/credits for a very important easter egg!
SO, Joe Hill has become one of my favourite authors this past year. At the moment, my "I will always read your book first" author list is something like V.E. Schwab, Jeff Zentner, Edgar Cantero, and Joe Hill (maybe Jay Kristoff in 5th?) I love his well-developed characters and interesting "what-if" scenarios. For some reason, I really resonated with Harper and was really invested in her story. I wondered what things would be like for me in that sci-fi/dystopian scenario and if I would make similar choices.
Kate Mulgrew is the perfect narrator for Joe's stories. I first listened to her read his NOS4A2 and was sooo into her narration. I can't wait to see what they pair up for next!
Oh! By the way, if you listened to this make sure to listen past the acknowledgements/credits for a very important easter egg!
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry
Wow! Joe Hill really hit his stride here. This is easily my favorite of his work thus far (excluding Locke & Key). What I really loved were the little details that created an incredibly rich world. Without spoiling; the furnace, the bright, M. Man (psychic), and so on.
Also, what is so lacking in so many stories like this, humanity. We often see these stories given voices to (and validation in a way) to the super evil, super horrible people in a crisis. In this, we never get to see or hear their perspective. It's all from our hero. That's what I want. I want hope and power and fear and fight.
Just perfect.
Also, what is so lacking in so many stories like this, humanity. We often see these stories given voices to (and validation in a way) to the super evil, super horrible people in a crisis. In this, we never get to see or hear their perspective. It's all from our hero. That's what I want. I want hope and power and fear and fight.
Just perfect.