Reviews tagging 'Death'

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

28 reviews

august_18's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Animal death, Gore, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Minor: Self harm, Abandonment, and Vomit

bababookmatt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a character driven book. The protagonist, Judas Coyne, is an aging, pessimistic, misogynistic rock star. Not a character that typically elicits sympathy for me. However, behind the plot we do see growth, and by the end he calls the women he dates by their name, and not just the American state he met them in. Without loving him, he felt real, and earned my respect. The relationship dynamics are excellent. The horror component was a little ho-hum; a ghost haunting. Judas and his entourage are being haunted by a ghost and Hill doesn’t waste time convincing the reader it’s a haunting as opposed to mental illness, natural phenomena, etc. I appreciated this. It’s established and not something that needs doubting or suspicion. There’s a snuff film that Judas owns that is very unsettling, and while it’s mentioned a few times, I struggle with finding how it fits in to the larger story. This didn’t bother me, but I found it to be a loose end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

outofthepinksky's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Self harm, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, Suicide, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Cursing, and Death of parent

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Blood, Self harm, and Gun violence

Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Incest

sandylewis's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

It started out bad but by the end I was rooting for the couple 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Violence, and Mental illness

unmistakablyphoenix's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Violence, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Child abuse

va1entine's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

this book was a series of ups and downs. at some parts, i was hooked, unable to stop reading; at others, it was a chore to keep going. while i enjoyed the dedication to detail, the book felt too long somehow, though i don’t know what would’ve been cut. i do think the author did a decent job tying up loose ends at the conclusion of the book. 
i found jude hard to root for at times, and i didn’t care one way or another what happened to him. i rooted for marybeth solely because i wanted her to be happy. everything else was sort of a crapshoot. there were a few poignant moments, and i enjoyed the moments where marybeth and jude actually were talking about their feelings—you can see the traces of genuine connection and affection for one another. the characters were given stories intended to give them depth but the stories did not really show beyond when they were mentioned. overall, 3.5/5. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Car accident, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

gellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really loved this novel's depiction and imagery of ghosts (the blackout eyes is super haunting and creepy). I also found one scene in this to be fairly disturbing and will make me hesitate to recommend this to anyone. Not to mention the other dark material that is covered in this book.

This book heavily features child abuse, molestation, grooming, age gap relationships, and the dark scene in question involves adults but a mix of sex and violence in a way that made me have to put the book down and walk away it was so disturbing

 
The ending both did and didn't feel desired, and the "familiars" idea I feel like could've been dealt with more. But I had a lot of fun reading this one and am excited to read more of Hill's work. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Self harm, and Death of parent

poptartsicle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Suicide, Pedophilia, Car accident, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence

hautstuff's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Gore, and Pedophilia