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softrubbish 's review for:
Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
I love Stephen King and I've had Joe Hill on my radar for quite some time, never quite knowing where to start. Well the beginning is as good as place as any, and I may regret this choice.
I feel so bad for saying this as I hate to disparage anyone working towards their writing dreams, especially in my favourite genre, but this mirror Stephen King in so many ways that it became hard to ignore. I've heard many reviews call this novel original, quirky, haunting etc but I really don't see that here.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad novel. In fact this is one of those books I finish and go "I didn't love this, but I'm very excited to read them again" (See: Paul Tremblay, Jon Padgett, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Grady Hendrix). The bones are here. The technical ability, the well written characters, the twists and turns. But in this book, it's not quite there for me. Throw in gratuitous use of self harm (you'd think the only way to hurt yourself in this book was from the elbow down), the surprising lack of empathy from the protag for some of the books best characters (you'll know them when you see them) and an ending that just sort of...happens; I don't think this would be the first book I'd pick up if I was trying to get a beat on Joe Hill. I think he sits in his fathers shadow here, peaking out now and then. I know however that in the future he makes his strides and makes his own unique mark on the horror genre so I'm not going to hold against him. However I won't budge over 3 stars for the experience.
I think the comparisons between Stephen King and Joe Hill can be summed up with the ever omniscient wisdom of William S Preston Esq.:
“How’s that stealing if we’re stealing it from ourselves, dude?”
I feel so bad for saying this as I hate to disparage anyone working towards their writing dreams, especially in my favourite genre, but this mirror Stephen King in so many ways that it became hard to ignore. I've heard many reviews call this novel original, quirky, haunting etc but I really don't see that here.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad novel. In fact this is one of those books I finish and go "I didn't love this, but I'm very excited to read them again" (See: Paul Tremblay, Jon Padgett, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Grady Hendrix). The bones are here. The technical ability, the well written characters, the twists and turns. But in this book, it's not quite there for me. Throw in gratuitous use of self harm (you'd think the only way to hurt yourself in this book was from the elbow down), the surprising lack of empathy from the protag for some of the books best characters (you'll know them when you see them) and an ending that just sort of...happens; I don't think this would be the first book I'd pick up if I was trying to get a beat on Joe Hill. I think he sits in his fathers shadow here, peaking out now and then. I know however that in the future he makes his strides and makes his own unique mark on the horror genre so I'm not going to hold against him. However I won't budge over 3 stars for the experience.
I think the comparisons between Stephen King and Joe Hill can be summed up with the ever omniscient wisdom of William S Preston Esq.:
“How’s that stealing if we’re stealing it from ourselves, dude?”