Reviews

NOS4A2: Nosferatu by Joe Hill

salgalruns's review against another edition

5.0

4.5ish for me... Not my normal genre of book, but I had read such great things about it, I thought I would give it a try. Sooooo glad I did! Joe Hill weaves horror and fantasy together Ina real-life, modern day storyline that is just incredible!

The story revolves around Vic McQueen, who discovers that she has the ability to "find" things through a special bridge. Coming to grips with whethere this is real or a figment of her own mind has wreaked havoc on her own on her own personal life. Along with Vic, Charlie Manx has his own way of entering this alternate mode of travel, but he uses a Rolls Royce Wraith.

Spoiler

While Vic uses her pathway for good, Manx does not. He works with a completely demented fool by the name of Bing Partridge and together, they kill adults who they deem bad role models, and capture the children. They bring the children to "Christmasland," where it is gingerbread, fun, and happiness forever. Bing is one messed up character, and actually the one that sent shivers up my spine more than anyone. Creepy, creepy, creepy nut job.

My favorite secondary character had to be that of Lou. Seriously, what's not to love? Big 'ol teddy bear that loves Vic and Wayne so much it hurts? Awwww factor x 10!!!!! Plus, he makes the connection to the word Horcruxes "as in Harry Potter?" Yes, he's THAT cool...

I was fortunate to listen to this on audiobook and the narration by Kate Mulgrew is EXCELLENT. I would highly, highly recommend it!

veraann's review against another edition

3.0

It was a really good horror/fantasy novel. It just didn't keep me page turning all the way through. The content was a little repetitive and back and forth for too long for me. Switching from fantastical to regular day life to melding them and wondering what is reality.
I went into this trying not to compare to Stephen King, but it's the same type of novel and Mr. King is THE King and probably the only author I will really read in this genre, but while this book was not as page turning for me as King's work, I would be willing to read more from Joe Hill.

mushroom_girl's review against another edition

4.0

I kinda expected little bit more but in that same time I have got more than I wanted. Does it make sense?

knittingchaos's review against another edition

4.0

This is Joe Hill's best book yet. Christmas has never been scarier.

discreetlyred's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

d2390's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

badatplants's review against another edition

5.0

My first absolute, hand’s down, no-doubt-about it 5-star book in awhile

huffle_puffer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

hirvimaki's review against another edition

4.0

This was a very good read. I usually shy away from themes of serial killers or real human evils - I much prefer to have bad guys be bad things (zombies or vampires or trolls or something removed from humanity). N0S4A2 has plenty of fantasy and magic (of a sort) but it does not divorce the violence and depravity from the human element as much as I usually like. That being said, Joe Hill does a great job of showing the creepy and evil without it being gratuitous. Well worth the read, with some great twists and truly well-developed characters.

njdarkish's review against another edition

5.0

For starters, if you pick this up, do yourself a favor and get the audiobook: the narrator is fantastic and adds to the creepiness.
This is one of the best horror novels I've ever read. At least one of my tops of recent memory.
Joe Hill is a solid writer-- I've picked up other books he's previously written and enjoyed them. Horns was decent, Heart-Shaped Box was fun, 20th Century Ghosts had some phenomenal stories, Locke and Key was an enjoyable comic series. With NOS4A2 he's at the height of his powers. The writing is horrifying, and has a nightmarish dream logic that really got under my skin. The characters are fantastic-- villains are motivated by their own warped perspectives on the world, and so are the heroes, for that matter. The magic of the world is well-thought out and compelling to learn more about.
This book has made me go from passively enjoying Hill to being ravenous to pick up his next book, and the one after that.