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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I'm 40% of the way through the book, and I just don't care. I don't care about the story or any of the characters--who are all mildly repugnant, but so boring they can't even manage to be full on repugnant--and I hope the ghost eats them all or kills them all or... except that I don't care about the ghost--who's also repugnant--either.
This book just feels like a really slow train wreck.
This book just feels like a really slow train wreck.
A little boring but good enough that I read it in one sitting. The second half lost me a little bit
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
The good:
- Quick and easy read
- Fairly well-written in terms of the writing style
- Interesting start
The bad:
- I hated the child molestation plot. That’s becoming a common trope in thrillers, so it felt unoriginal, too provincial for a ghost story, and just plain gross.
- I disliked that they never explained why buying the suite = attaching the Craddock to Jude. They explained Craddock’s impetus for haunting Jude (which felt like a weak logical leap in that they just decided that Jude was the cause of Anna’s decision to turn them in, but fine), but not how the buying of the suit enabled the haunting. So that felt sloppy.
- Quick and easy read
- Fairly well-written in terms of the writing style
- Interesting start
The bad:
- I hated the child molestation plot. That’s becoming a common trope in thrillers, so it felt unoriginal, too provincial for a ghost story, and just plain gross.
- I disliked that they never explained why buying the suite = attaching the Craddock to Jude. They explained Craddock’s impetus for haunting Jude (which felt like a weak logical leap in that they just decided that Jude was the cause of Anna’s decision to turn them in, but fine), but not how the buying of the suit enabled the haunting. So that felt sloppy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault
Not quite what I expected, but it wasn't bad. Listened to the audio version, but didn't really care for the narrator. An interesting concept for a ghost story (man buys a ghost from an auction website), but I thought the story moved too quickly in the beginning, and then too slow towards the middle/end.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jude Coyne is a 50-something year old rock star who just bought a ghost. Well, really he bought the suit of a dead man, whose spirit is said to be attached to it. He doesn’t think much of this purchase — it’s just something else to add to his collection of dark oddities. But after the black heart-shaped box is delivered to his house, he finds himself face-to-face with the actual ghost of Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of his one of his past lovers. Craddock is more than just another piece to add to his macabre collection. Jude now owns a murderous ghost. And all sales are final.
——————
I….didn’t enjoy this. Almost fell asleep during the first 15 chapters. It was really slow, not all that scary. Mostly kind of gross in a bad, unnecessary way. I thought I was reading a story about a ghost haunting, not about creepy older dudes preying on young girls. It didn’t help that basically all the characters were unlikeable, especially Jude. Plus he brought his own problem on himself. So I didn’t care what happened till at least halfway through the book.
I didn’t see the twist coming that Anna/Florida didn’t kill herself — it was actually Craddock and Jessica, the sister. So there was at least some motivation there for me to get to the end of the book to see Craddock get what he deserved. But it ended up being so vague and non-specific. He’s a horrible pedophile/rapist, and at the end he just gets pulled into a blinding light? If anyone deserves to burn in hell, it’s that dude.
And honestly, Jude is no better. He’s in his mid 50s sleeping with 20 year olds? Granted what he’s doing is not illegal (nor uncommon for famous rich dudes), but come on. He’s no hero but it’s clear the author is trying to make him out to be a good guy deep down. But he’s so obviously not that it’s actually sickening. So having an entire 300-something page book focused all on him is a bit much. I’d rather have read this from Marybeth/Georgia’s POV. It was sad to read how she was willing to die for him, and that they actually got married. They barely seemed to like each other before Craddock came into the picture. Also, what kind of story like this has a happy ending? Basically Jude and Marybeth get married, Bammy (Marybeth’s grandmother) is supposedly happy for them, and they live the rest of their days vacationing around the world or in wedded bliss at home.
Oh, and the way that everything got blamed on Jude’s dad made NO sense. You’re saying this stroked out man who doesn’t move or talk or eat or drink, who lost function on one side of his body months ago and has been bed bound since, was able to get up through “age rage” and take down two able bodied people? Come. On.
And finally, the biggest point: the dogs. I’m sorry. But the the story/writing has to be GOOD if you’re going to have the dogs die. Jude fucking kicked Bon after she and Angus saved him from carbon monoxide poisoning! And they both sacrificed themselves for him? Just…..no. The only redeeming part of that whole plot point was the spirit/soul of the dog coming back. I liked the part where Angus comes back and hides under the bed, tail thumping; and when Bon leads Jude to Marybeth’s hospital room, I cried. I love dogs. And now that I think about it, I only actually felt any interest in this book when Jude realized how important the dogs were.
But did they really have to die? Ugh.
Overall, did not really enjoy this at all. Will likely not be reading from this author again (yes, I now know that he’s Stephen King’s son. But this book sucked.)Giving 1/2 star because of the dogs being heroes throughout the book and loyal till the very end, and because Marybeth survives (not more because she ends up staying with and marrying Jude). I was honestly going to be SO annoyed if Jude was the only surviving person.
——————
I….didn’t enjoy this. Almost fell asleep during the first 15 chapters. It was really slow, not all that scary. Mostly kind of gross in a bad, unnecessary way. I thought I was reading a story about a ghost haunting, not about creepy older dudes preying on young girls. It didn’t help that basically all the characters were unlikeable, especially Jude. Plus he brought his own problem on himself. So I didn’t care what happened till at least halfway through the book.
And honestly, Jude is no better. He’s in his mid 50s sleeping with 20 year olds? Granted what he’s doing is not illegal (nor uncommon for famous rich dudes), but come on. He’s no hero but it’s clear the author is trying to make him out to be a good guy deep down. But he’s so obviously not that it’s actually sickening. So having an entire 300-something page book focused all on him is a bit much. I’d rather have read this from Marybeth/Georgia’s POV. It was sad to read how she was willing to die for him, and that they actually got married. They barely seemed to like each other before Craddock came into the picture. Also, what kind of story like this has a happy ending? Basically Jude and Marybeth get married, Bammy (Marybeth’s grandmother) is supposedly happy for them, and they live the rest of their days vacationing around the world or in wedded bliss at home.
Oh, and the way that everything got blamed on Jude’s dad made NO sense. You’re saying this stroked out man who doesn’t move or talk or eat or drink, who lost function on one side of his body months ago and has been bed bound since, was able to get up through “age rage” and take down two able bodied people? Come. On.
And finally, the biggest point: the dogs. I’m sorry. But the the story/writing has to be GOOD if you’re going to have the dogs die. Jude fucking kicked Bon after she and Angus saved him from carbon monoxide poisoning! And they both sacrificed themselves for him? Just…..no. The only redeeming part of that whole plot point was the spirit/soul of the dog coming back. I liked the part where Angus comes back and hides under the bed, tail thumping; and when Bon leads Jude to Marybeth’s hospital room, I cried. I love dogs. And now that I think about it, I only actually felt any interest in this book when Jude realized how important the dogs were.
But did they really have to die? Ugh.
Overall, did not really enjoy this at all. Will likely not be reading from this author again (yes, I now know that he’s Stephen King’s son. But this book sucked.)
