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A review by constantcatreader
N0S4A2 by Joe Hill
3.0
Nos4a2: Bliss-less Innocence
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Paranormal
Theme: Bliss-less Innocence. The author is trying to show how staying young forever is not always wise or favorable and can lead to a sick-mindset of bliss-less innocence or ignorance.
Writing style: Style used relatively simple words which I believe was due to the theme of a child-like innocence.
Story development: Major gaps of time left unexplained until you've kept reading can be frustrating or anti-climatic in my opinion such as most of the beginning parts of Vic's childhood as well as Vic's death itself. Sometimes this made the book confusing but still understandable.
Elements: The only story element I want to note is overall tone and mood: silly strange. It's not even scary in my opinion, yes weird, but not scary. Maybe that's because I have read Stephen King and that stuff is crazy bone-chilling scary. But this, not so much. What kept me reading? The character Charlie Talent Manx is so intriguing and I wanted to see how he met his end (if any end at all) which was a disappointment because Vic ended up using physical explosives rather than the power of imagination (which was supposed to be a major point of the story: using our imaginations to escape.) I think a different escape from Charlie Manx would have made a more impressive ending, in my opinion.
Devices: I like how Manx's right-hand man is a highly immature and childishly insane grown man, and how this ultimately back-fires on Manx himself when Bing shoots his ear off.
DISLIKES:
• More silly than scary; some good laughs but at some points a little too strange. Maybe because of the Christmas references?
• Maggie's character seems a waste. She dies and I didn't know her well enough to feel sad about it.
• Seems as if I know nothing about the characters except Vic since she is the main character and we see her grow from childhood to adulthood, still even though the book is decently long, I felt unattached to character due a feeling of not know them
• Love the overlap of reality and our minds, but some of the interactions with Feds seem unrealistic like not being able to find her and how the map on find my iPhone shows Christmasland? And the Feds are like cool as a cucumber about this??? What? No one goes to jail? No one gets shot except her father??
LIKES:
• References to Stephen King's It with "Pennywise" and a Fahrenheit 451 book literally burning, and even Harry Potter.
• Bing at first praises God but then burns the church and writes about demons being there. An interesting reflection on religion and that relationship between God.
• Overall idea of the shorter way is cool as well as how we can travel to where we wish in our minds.
• Lou and Vic have been together for both when she was abducted and their child being abducted. Both characters seem to be stuck in childhood, reckless and defiant.
• I liked how the children were freed at the end.
OVERALL: The book had some uniqueness with the mix of genres such as thriller, paranormal, adventure, comedy, irony, and some romance here and there. The ideas of the mind and how we can escape reality with our minds was a wonderful concept. I would have liked this idea in another book with different characters. The overall purpose of bliss-less innocence was conveyed strongly by the lasting effects of Christmasland and Mr. Manx on Vic and then Wayne even after his death was a brilliant way to continue the theme into the very last pages of the book. Personally, the book rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Paranormal
Theme: Bliss-less Innocence. The author is trying to show how staying young forever is not always wise or favorable and can lead to a sick-mindset of bliss-less innocence or ignorance.
Writing style: Style used relatively simple words which I believe was due to the theme of a child-like innocence.
Story development: Major gaps of time left unexplained until you've kept reading can be frustrating or anti-climatic in my opinion such as most of the beginning parts of Vic's childhood as well as Vic's death itself. Sometimes this made the book confusing but still understandable.
Elements: The only story element I want to note is overall tone and mood: silly strange. It's not even scary in my opinion, yes weird, but not scary. Maybe that's because I have read Stephen King and that stuff is crazy bone-chilling scary. But this, not so much. What kept me reading? The character Charlie Talent Manx is so intriguing and I wanted to see how he met his end (if any end at all) which was a disappointment because Vic ended up using physical explosives rather than the power of imagination (which was supposed to be a major point of the story: using our imaginations to escape.) I think a different escape from Charlie Manx would have made a more impressive ending, in my opinion.
Devices: I like how Manx's right-hand man is a highly immature and childishly insane grown man, and how this ultimately back-fires on Manx himself when Bing shoots his ear off.
DISLIKES:
• More silly than scary; some good laughs but at some points a little too strange. Maybe because of the Christmas references?
• Maggie's character seems a waste. She dies and I didn't know her well enough to feel sad about it.
• Seems as if I know nothing about the characters except Vic since she is the main character and we see her grow from childhood to adulthood, still even though the book is decently long, I felt unattached to character due a feeling of not know them
• Love the overlap of reality and our minds, but some of the interactions with Feds seem unrealistic like not being able to find her and how the map on find my iPhone shows Christmasland? And the Feds are like cool as a cucumber about this??? What? No one goes to jail? No one gets shot except her father??
LIKES:
• References to Stephen King's It with "Pennywise" and a Fahrenheit 451 book literally burning, and even Harry Potter.
• Bing at first praises God but then burns the church and writes about demons being there. An interesting reflection on religion and that relationship between God.
• Overall idea of the shorter way is cool as well as how we can travel to where we wish in our minds.
• Lou and Vic have been together for both when she was abducted and their child being abducted. Both characters seem to be stuck in childhood, reckless and defiant.
• I liked how the children were freed at the end.
OVERALL: The book had some uniqueness with the mix of genres such as thriller, paranormal, adventure, comedy, irony, and some romance here and there. The ideas of the mind and how we can escape reality with our minds was a wonderful concept. I would have liked this idea in another book with different characters. The overall purpose of bliss-less innocence was conveyed strongly by the lasting effects of Christmasland and Mr. Manx on Vic and then Wayne even after his death was a brilliant way to continue the theme into the very last pages of the book. Personally, the book rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.