Review - Heartshaped Box by Joe Hill

Book Summary

I couldn't find a summary and it would take me far to long to try and write a good one.  A professional blogger and reviewer is not my goal, reading and having fun is. So on to my review.

My Review - 2 1/2 Not my Cup of Tea

A supernatural horror by Stephen King's son.  This is Joe Hill's debut book, which I felt at times you can tell, a few to many rephrasing or repeating of stories, 'Joe you already told me that'. 

Judas Coyne is a rock star that has a Gothic, scary collection so when his Assistant tells him a ghost is being sold he bids for it immediately, and then realises he can buy it out right for $1000 instead of the possible $100.  I had to shake my head, what kind of crazy fool will I be reading about.  Seriously who would do that without thinking possible consequences. 

I did like that the story started with a bang.  Once the ghost was delivered in the heartshaped box, a suit with the spirit of someone he knew, things started happening.  Jude actually considered sending it back but the seller said no returns, no exchanges, final sale is done.

You know when you see a horror and you are laughing through it because all the actors and actress's are just dumb. You don't care what happens to them.  Well, unfortunately for me this was the case, I just never cared about the characters, so much so I struggled to even finish this book.  Finally at half point I was interested enough to finish and was happy when it was over.

I don't mind ghost stories but everything about this one just was unbelievable so I couldn't invest myself.  Even the scene with the Ouija board, I rolled my eyes.  Are these even on the market anymore?

A few things that were interesting.  Revenge is a bitch, holy crap, that was hilarious to me, may be scary to others.  Overall this is what started the story, became the journey and was wrapped up nicely at the end.  I wondered if this book was one big hallucination.  Throughout the book you really did get the feeling that the dead pull the living down.

Jude called all his rock star groupies by the country he met them instead of their real name, so we had Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.  I thought this was cute and ridiculous as the same time.

A favourite quote:

His mind wanted away from death for a few moments.  He felt crowded by death, felt the promise of death all around, felt death on his chest, each death a stone heaped on top of him, driving the air out of him. 

I have read Horns which I enjoyed better.

My friend Paula, loved this book and I found to be one of my favourite reviews by her.  You can read it over at her blog Tome's Devotee.

I read this for the RIP Challenge and I Want More Challenge I host.

I am starting to realise I enjoy watching horrors but not so much reading them.

Review - Horns by Joe Hill

Book Summary

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache, and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.


My review - 3 1/2 More Sugar Please
 
The book broke down the chapters in parts - Hell - Cherry - The Fire Sermon - The Fixer - The Gospel
 
I have never read a book that I loved so much in the beginning, all of Hell was just amazing, only to drop me and i'm not wanting to read it anymore.  Ig wakes up with Horns and thinks he is hallucinating and wonders why others see the horns but are not reacting but rather are telling him their deepest secrets even about what they think of him.  It only didn't affect one character and we all want to know why.  Everything was thrilling and suspenseful, I seriously loved every moment of the 1st ten chapters.
 
Then came Cherry - ugggh, it was about how Ig met Merrin and their beautiful perfect relationship.  I'm not saying this wasn't good it just didn't flow.  You know when moves have deleted scenes, well all of these chapters could have been cut in my opinion.  In later ones Ig daydreams about them anyway so it was unnecessary.  The book went from a 5 star to a 2 star for me then it slowly improved and the ending was just not the climax you would expect and also what you think should be consequences after Ig finds out everything.
 
Due to my love of Ig being the Devil, the touch of suspense and the dark humour I am glad I read it but it was hard to get through after the breakdown of flow.
 
It is not scary at all in my opinion, so don't be afraid to read it.  There are a ton of God vs Devil comments which I think adds to the book.  And I love words like Evel Knievel, wife beater (the shirt) and jigaboos, that is so funny.
 
The writing I adored and so will read another by Joe Hill but the flow of the book was just not executed well, in my opinion.

Note - Joe Hill is Stephen King's son.
 
Go over to April's blog to read her review.  cafeofdreamsbookreviews
 
Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce