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joshkiba13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Who knew Christmas could be so creepy?? I'm honestly left quite stunned by this book. Its creep factor was dialed up to 11-- by far the creepiest story I've ever read. And at the same time it had such heart to it.
I felt that the story was utterly unique. The opening passages are frightening and foreboding, and I love how we jumped back in time from that point and resumed there later on.
Charlie Manx was a scary bad guy for sure, but his right-hand man, Bing Partridge (aka the Gas Mask Man) was even creepier in my opinion. The first chapters where we're introduced to Bing were among the most off-putting sections of the novel.
I loooved our protagonist Vic McQueen. We follow her from childhood and into adulthood. She is probably the most nuanced and heavily flawed character I've read of. In the Author's Note following the audiobook, Joe Hill explained his dislike for stories where the heroes are double-do-gooders, or something like that, and how he sought to write realistic and flawed "good guys." He absolutely succeeded in my opinion, with Vic and the cast of side characters like Maggie Leigh and Lou Carmody. We are able to cheer them on as they succeed in things, and mourn as they make awful (but real) decisions.
I loved how absolutely off the concept of Christmas became as the book developed--kind of like if The Nightmare Before Christmas was rated R. Beyond the horrifying effects of Charlie Manx's powers, even something as simple as hearing Christmas music beyond the bounds of winter (a common occurrence during the story) became scary. I loved this line: "There was something awful about Christmas music when it was nearly summer. It was like a clown in the rain, with his makeup running."
Hill's dialogue was snappy and clever; his prose and descriptions were unique and often (positively) unconventional. And I absolutely loved his takes on imagination and the mind, as seen in the snippet I opened with, as well as this one:
"Everyone lives in two worlds . . . There's the real world . . . But everyone also lives in the world inside their own head: An in-scape, a world of thought . . . Creative people . . . spend a lot of their time hanging out in their thought-world. Strong creatives though can use a knife to cut the stitches between the two worlds, can bring them together."
The book can definitely get a little out there in some places, but I honestly think the weird served to its benefit. The only part that made me wince in a truly uncomfortable way was Hill referencing a few real-life tragedies to serve a scene where a character was becoming demented. I love a good corruption arc (such as in "Apt Pupil" by Stephen King), but I found the allusions to real tragedies a tad distasteful. Didn't ruin it for me at all, just something I didn't care for.
Overall one of the best audiobooks I've listened to, I absolutely have to hand it to Kate Mulgrew for knocking it OUT of the park with her narration. Manx's voice was gritty and cold, Bing's was off-putting and creepily child-like, and she did Maggie Leigh's stutter so well. Her children voices were well done too, and successfully creepy when necessary. Above all I have to appreciate how when a character was yelling, she yelled and didn't just whisper-yell like some narrators do.
Solid book and sooolid audio 👌
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Abandonment
Minor: Racial slurs, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
madelinequinnee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really enjoyed this more than I expected. I went in thinking it would be more ‘vampirey’, if that makes sense, but i guess the Nosferatu mentions are more metaphorical than literal.
I found this really easy to get lost in, the story was interesting and the writing was really descriptive and painted a great picture of the world it takes place in.
There are a few trigger warnings i would look out for if you’re going to read this and are sensitive to certain topics.
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Gore, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Animal death, Death of parent, and Self harm
judassilver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Specific spoilers for those curious:
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Stalking, and Torture
Moderate: Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia
arnastorm's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Racial slurs
cloudy333's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, and Homophobia
doctorw0rm's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, and Animal death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Racial slurs
ripxw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Child abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Terminal illness
ranocchietto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The book deals with cycles of trauma, growing up and the loss of innocence, and how people close to us make a difference in our lives, it was quite moving at times.
I would say my main problem was with the pacing, it felt unfocused towards the last third, it would have benefited from fewer digressions. I also felt the tone towards the end didn't match the tension the author was probably going for, but it didn't really spoil the experience for me.
Do check the content warnings before reading, it can get a bit heavy. The fatphobic undertones made it quite uncomfortable for me.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Gore, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Incest