Take a photo of a barcode or cover
box_wine_hero 's review for:
Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A story about women's trauma, told theough the eyes of a man who exploits traumatized women. The story is desperate to make the main character relevant to the plot, but the major plot twist is he matters even less than we previously believed. The extent of his character growth is calling his girlfriend by her real name instead of the corny, objectifying pet name he gave her.
I begrudgingly finished this book so I could write my scathing review with completeness. Here is a short list of my problems wish this book, spoilers ahead.
1. Women are objectified for no reason at all and at inappropriate times, even objectifying themselves in uncharacteristic fashion. I got so tired of hearing about how skinny and pale Jude's girlfriend is (and young! And hot!).
2. Subpoint to 1, side and minor characters' personalities are apparently supposed to be inferred based on their appearances, apparently. It was only one scene, but does she really have to be "the fat woman?"
3. The plot made sense when Jude's girlfriend killed herself after he kicked her out, causing her family to sic a ghost on him. A revenge ghost, right? Except she didnt commit suicide–the family set it up to look that way so she wouldn't reveal the stepfather's history of molesting the girls of the family. So why send a ghost after Jude at all? He didn't know about the molestation, and the family's flimsy "maybe he did though" did not hold water. He would have sat at his house unbothered, being a selfish asshole, and they would gotten away with it.
4. Phenobarbital does not work that way.
5. A lot of the consequences of Jude's haunting happen to other people for some reason. Other characters are used as props to drive his story. He does lose a finger, and the book acts like he is about to hemorrhage to death from it. Meanwhile, his dog has a bone sticking out of his leg and they don't even bother looking for a vet. If Jude is so tough, why can't he tie a tourniquet and stop bitching?
6. Jude gets revenge on his girlfriends' abusers, probably just to make himself feel better. Why can't Mary Beth punch her molester? Can't women do anything?!
7. Injecting morphine directly into an open wound doesn't work, and sewing up a 4-day old finger stump without irrigation or anything is a bold choice.
8. The end was not satisfying.
I begrudgingly finished this book so I could write my scathing review with completeness. Here is a short list of my problems wish this book, spoilers ahead.
2. Subpoint to 1, side and minor characters' personalities are apparently supposed to be inferred based on their appearances, apparently. It was only one scene, but does she really have to be "the fat woman?"
3. The plot made sense when Jude's girlfriend killed herself after he kicked her out, causing her family to sic a ghost on him. A revenge ghost, right? Except she didnt commit suicide–the family set it up to look that way so she wouldn't reveal the stepfather's history of molesting the girls of the family. So why send a ghost after Jude at all? He didn't know about the molestation, and the family's flimsy "maybe he did though" did not hold water. He would have sat at his house unbothered, being a selfish asshole, and they would gotten away with it.
4. Phenobarbital does not work that way.
5. A lot of the consequences of Jude's haunting happen to other people for some reason. Other characters are used as props to drive his story. He does lose a finger, and the book acts like he is about to hemorrhage to death from it. Meanwhile, his dog has a bone sticking out of his leg and they don't even bother looking for a vet. If Jude is so tough, why can't he tie a tourniquet and stop bitching?
6. Jude gets revenge on his girlfriends' abusers, probably just to make himself feel better. Why can't Mary Beth punch her molester? Can't women do anything?!
7. Injecting morphine directly into an open wound doesn't work, and sewing up a 4-day old finger stump without irrigation or anything is a bold choice.
8. The end was not satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood