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A review by meginsanity
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3.0
After reading this I'm really glad I decided to read [b:20th Century Ghosts|373915|20th Century Ghosts|Joe Hill|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1200579663s/373915.jpg|1049073] and [b:Horns|6587879|Horns|Joe Hill|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419lLGKuCjL._SL75_.jpg|6781405] before this one. It's Joe Hill's first novel, and unfortunately his weakest: it's got an interesting premise, but it's not resolved well, and too much of the book is overtaken with mundane, tedious tasks and repetitive description. I actually kind of liked the ending, because I was wondering how the author would wrap things up and thought he handled his chosen ending well, but giving it a bit more thought, there were too many plot threads left dangling.
Joe Hill did do a good job of letting his characters grow over the course of the novel. I liked the way their personal histories were gradually revealed, and the protagonist became a bit more likeable. Unfortunately, the characters weren't enough to rescue this book from its flaws, for me.
Joe Hill did do a good job of letting his characters grow over the course of the novel. I liked the way their personal histories were gradually revealed, and the protagonist became a bit more likeable. Unfortunately, the characters weren't enough to rescue this book from its flaws, for me.