msvenner's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. The author creates a unique and detailed fantasy world and his characters, though lacking a little depth, a relatable and interesting.
wordsareweapons's review
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.
I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Sam is our unchosen hero. He is honestly, quite inept at almost everything. He floats by in the background at school, and at home, and is repeatedly saved by his friend Harper. His only refuge is his uncle's shop full of items from his many adventures. Sam finds solace in a collection of books called The Books of Hell, especially in the Book of Stolas. To him Stolas is the ultimate underdog. Born a slave in Hell, Stolas rises above his masters to unify Hell, or so Sam believes. After a rather scathingly, embarrassing event at school he hides out at his uncle's shop. While planning a dinner for him and Harper, they stumble upon his uncle's hidden treasure room. A stranger comes and Harper gets sucked into Hell. Tired of waiting for a hero, Sam decides it's up to him to venture through Hell and rescue Harper.
Hell is unlike any version you are thinking of here. It is massively varied, and has a complex social structure, It is a safe haven for various demon species that have been kicked out of their homeland. There are also human slaves among them. I loved the way the author created this elaborate Hellscape. Some of the towns were very Wild West in their depictions. Along the way Sam falls in with Hollinshead, a human slave for Pazuzu, and Thurlton. Now, one would expect Sam to do some growing and develop a sense of heroics along the way. This, unfortunately doesn't really ever happen. He stumbles his way through Hell, and honestly doesn't do much except muck everything up, until the very end of course. At some point you get the sense of a looming love triangle in the making, and the building blocks are there, but it never really develops. The ending is fairly open ended with a set up for a sequel. It's a very quick, fun read overall. The setting is honestly one of the better aspects of this story, and really makes the book what it is. If there is a sequel I would be interested to see where it goes and hopefully see a bit more character development.
I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Sam is our unchosen hero. He is honestly, quite inept at almost everything. He floats by in the background at school, and at home, and is repeatedly saved by his friend Harper. His only refuge is his uncle's shop full of items from his many adventures. Sam finds solace in a collection of books called The Books of Hell, especially in the Book of Stolas. To him Stolas is the ultimate underdog. Born a slave in Hell, Stolas rises above his masters to unify Hell, or so Sam believes. After a rather scathingly, embarrassing event at school he hides out at his uncle's shop. While planning a dinner for him and Harper, they stumble upon his uncle's hidden treasure room. A stranger comes and Harper gets sucked into Hell. Tired of waiting for a hero, Sam decides it's up to him to venture through Hell and rescue Harper.
Hell is unlike any version you are thinking of here. It is massively varied, and has a complex social structure, It is a safe haven for various demon species that have been kicked out of their homeland. There are also human slaves among them. I loved the way the author created this elaborate Hellscape. Some of the towns were very Wild West in their depictions. Along the way Sam falls in with Hollinshead, a human slave for Pazuzu, and Thurlton. Now, one would expect Sam to do some growing and develop a sense of heroics along the way. This, unfortunately doesn't really ever happen. He stumbles his way through Hell, and honestly doesn't do much except muck everything up, until the very end of course. At some point you get the sense of a looming love triangle in the making, and the building blocks are there, but it never really develops. The ending is fairly open ended with a set up for a sequel. It's a very quick, fun read overall. The setting is honestly one of the better aspects of this story, and really makes the book what it is. If there is a sequel I would be interested to see where it goes and hopefully see a bit more character development.
kanha's review
2.0
I got this ARC through Netgalley for reviewing purposes, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Overall 2,5 stars.
The book isn't bad, but it isn't the best either. It didn't capture me, but I didn't mind continuing on with it. I didn't love anything about the book, but again I didn't hate anything either. Some things did annoy me, but that was it. I guess to me the book was just okay. I probably won't read this again, but that's just me. I would definitely still recommend this book to other people. I'm just really critical, and don't "like" most of the books that I read.
The Book of Sam is about 16 year old Sam Sullinger, he is an average teenage boy, who is an introvert, insecure and shy. The only friend he has is also the girl he has a secret crush on. He is an outcast and gets bullied by everybody at school, at the behest of the popular boy Kyle whom has made it his life mission to ruin Sams life. And if Kyle isn't trying to ruin his life, then his father is right there ready to belittle him.
When he finally gets ready to confess his feelings to Harper his best friend, shit hits the fan. And with barely anybody willing to help, he does something he never thought he would do, he takes it upon himself to do whatever he can to save Harper.
The story starts of fast paced, which I liked. We quickly gets to know about the main character Sam, and his life, and we are also quickly thrown into the journey of going to hell. But some things about it did annoy me. The thing is that Sam goes to hell with no apparent plan as to how or what he should do to save Harper. Like a desperate naive 16 year old teen, he just throws himself headfirst into trouble, without really thinking, which on one hand I do understand, but on the other I found it really stupid
How do you expect to save someone from hell by only bringing a couple of books, one knife and a snack. He could at least have brought water, a flashlight and perhaps a first aid kit, not that my suggestions are that much better than what he brought along lol.
But you understand what I'm getting at? Sam doesn't really plan anything, he just does things and hopes for the best. He is 16 years old and desperate to save his best friend from hell, with no life experience. All he has to help him navigate hell is, the books he used to read as a child about hell and his hero Stolas. And a thing he forgets is that the books are just stories, it doesn't mean that it's the truth.
Anyhow along the way Sam finds other companions that helps him with finding Harper. One of the companions is pretty useless, at least most of the time, but I did like that character, he was very endering to me. The other one at least has a brain and knows how to fight, as for Sam himself, he is also quite useless and naive. Sometimes I wondered if Sam was even using his brain, but I might just be too harsh on him. We do get some character development from Sam, which is nice. Sam goes from being insecure and pretty much useless to a more confident and strong minded person. It does take a while, due to how big his insecurities are. Actually it takes almost the whole book before there is any real character development with Sam, and I still found him pretty useless.
The world building of Hell is described differently than other stories. It's not just a burning pit and people being tortured by Satan. For some reason I visualised hell, as the wild west. And I don't know why, but I imagined that some of the demons looked like Randall Boggs, the chameleon from Monsters Inc, wearing, cowboy gear, you know the cowboy hat, boots and gun holsters, or maybe I'm just thinking of Rango. Matter of fact I visualised the characters from Monsters Inc as the demons in this book, for some unknown reason, and of course they all looked like cowboys in my head. Which is utterly ridiculous, since they aren't actually described as looking anything similar to the Monsters Inc characters.
The demons in this world are also described completely different to what the "norm" is. They look different, though some demons do look somewhat similar to what we are "used" to demons looking like, e.g horns on their heads, evil, enjoys pain. In this book the demons aren't all just evil, there are good ones too. They are slaves, lovers, friends, they work at bars, they own small shops ect.
The book has an open ending bordering on a cliffhanger, which I don't mind too much. At the moment this is a stand alone, but in the future it might possibly turn into a trilogy (I asked on Goodreads and that was the answer Shapiro gave)
If it does become a trilogy then I will definitely be reading the next books :)!
The demon Thorlton, in my head I imagined Mike Warzowski but with two eyes. Actually everybody of the same race as Thorlton, I visualised as Mike Warzowski. The females I just imagined with brown hair with bangs and pigtails. I would post a picture but I don't know how to.
Overall 2,5 stars.
The book isn't bad, but it isn't the best either. It didn't capture me, but I didn't mind continuing on with it. I didn't love anything about the book, but again I didn't hate anything either. Some things did annoy me, but that was it. I guess to me the book was just okay. I probably won't read this again, but that's just me. I would definitely still recommend this book to other people. I'm just really critical, and don't "like" most of the books that I read.
The Book of Sam is about 16 year old Sam Sullinger, he is an average teenage boy, who is an introvert, insecure and shy. The only friend he has is also the girl he has a secret crush on. He is an outcast and gets bullied by everybody at school, at the behest of the popular boy Kyle whom has made it his life mission to ruin Sams life. And if Kyle isn't trying to ruin his life, then his father is right there ready to belittle him.
When he finally gets ready to confess his feelings to Harper his best friend, shit hits the fan. And with barely anybody willing to help, he does something he never thought he would do, he takes it upon himself to do whatever he can to save Harper.
The story starts of fast paced, which I liked. We quickly gets to know about the main character Sam, and his life, and we are also quickly thrown into the journey of going to hell. But some things about it did annoy me. The thing is that Sam goes to hell with no apparent plan as to how or what he should do to save Harper. Like a desperate naive 16 year old teen, he just throws himself headfirst into trouble, without really thinking, which on one hand I do understand, but on the other I found it really stupid
How do you expect to save someone from hell by only bringing a couple of books, one knife and a snack. He could at least have brought water, a flashlight and perhaps a first aid kit, not that my suggestions are that much better than what he brought along lol.
But you understand what I'm getting at? Sam doesn't really plan anything, he just does things and hopes for the best. He is 16 years old and desperate to save his best friend from hell, with no life experience. All he has to help him navigate hell is, the books he used to read as a child about hell and his hero Stolas. And a thing he forgets is that the books are just stories, it doesn't mean that it's the truth.
Anyhow along the way Sam finds other companions that helps him with finding Harper. One of the companions is pretty useless, at least most of the time, but I did like that character, he was very endering to me. The other one at least has a brain and knows how to fight, as for Sam himself, he is also quite useless and naive. Sometimes I wondered if Sam was even using his brain, but I might just be too harsh on him. We do get some character development from Sam, which is nice. Sam goes from being insecure and pretty much useless to a more confident and strong minded person. It does take a while, due to how big his insecurities are. Actually it takes almost the whole book before there is any real character development with Sam, and I still found him pretty useless.
The world building of Hell is described differently than other stories. It's not just a burning pit and people being tortured by Satan. For some reason I visualised hell, as the wild west. And I don't know why, but I imagined that some of the demons looked like Randall Boggs, the chameleon from Monsters Inc, wearing, cowboy gear, you know the cowboy hat, boots and gun holsters, or maybe I'm just thinking of Rango. Matter of fact I visualised the characters from Monsters Inc as the demons in this book, for some unknown reason, and of course they all looked like cowboys in my head. Which is utterly ridiculous, since they aren't actually described as looking anything similar to the Monsters Inc characters.
The demons in this world are also described completely different to what the "norm" is. They look different, though some demons do look somewhat similar to what we are "used" to demons looking like, e.g horns on their heads, evil, enjoys pain. In this book the demons aren't all just evil, there are good ones too. They are slaves, lovers, friends, they work at bars, they own small shops ect.
The book has an open ending bordering on a cliffhanger, which I don't mind too much. At the moment this is a stand alone, but in the future it might possibly turn into a trilogy (I asked on Goodreads and that was the answer Shapiro gave)
If it does become a trilogy then I will definitely be reading the next books :)!
The demon Thorlton, in my head I imagined Mike Warzowski but with two eyes. Actually everybody of the same race as Thorlton, I visualised as Mike Warzowski. The females I just imagined with brown hair with bangs and pigtails. I would post a picture but I don't know how to.
angelamirode's review
4.0
Sam is a shy, introvert guy who’s in love with is best friend, Harper but he never told her. And now he wants to, before it’s too late.
But things don’t exactly go as planned and she ends up in hell.
Now he wants to save her, even if that means going to hell as well...
That plot reminded me of chilling adventures of Sabrina.
I liked the story, it’s catchy and the fact that Sam is ready to overcome his fears to bring back his friend and love interest is amazing, and I wasn’t ready for the turn of events and that ending ! Unexpected. The only thing that bothers me is how quick the actions takes place at the beginning of the book. I want to know if there’s gonna be a sequel?!
But things don’t exactly go as planned and she ends up in hell.
Now he wants to save her, even if that means going to hell as well...
That plot reminded me of chilling adventures of Sabrina.
I liked the story, it’s catchy and the fact that Sam is ready to overcome his fears to bring back his friend and love interest is amazing, and I wasn’t ready for the turn of events and that ending ! Unexpected. The only thing that bothers me is how quick the actions takes place at the beginning of the book. I want to know if there’s gonna be a sequel?!
readtoramble's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book is set first in the U.S. and then in Hell, I really liked the blurb and I thought it was going to be great, however, unfortunately, this was not my cup of tea, but I pushed through and finished it to see if my thoughts would change. Sam and Harper are friends, but Sam is a bit of a loser and gets bullied a lot. He loves Harper and decides to tell her one night over dinner, but she goes into his uncle's office and a demon arrives in the shop, Harper is then dragged off to Hell and Sam has to go get her back.
I immediately had an issue with the setting of this book, the author's note at the start of the book makes you think it will be set in the 90s, but it isn't, and that note really didn't make sense to me, it still doesn't. The writing style and the actual setting wasn't bad though, I had an issue with the pacing and I really thought that a lot of things were too obvious, there wasn't enough suspense, I knew what was going to happen before it did, and it just generally didn't grab me.
I did enjoy Thorlton's character though, I think it was my favourite part of the book. However, Sam, Harpen, Hollinshead, Moscow and others just were not very good characters, they were boring, they didn't really have much going for them and I wasn't interested in them in the least.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book, I pushed my way through, but it didn't get any better, I found it boring and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere. It seems like this story is not over, I would be inclined to read the second book if there is one, but I really don't fancy going through that again, so I'm probably going to give it a miss. It wasn't a bad book and I can see why others would really enjoy it, it just wasn't for me. It was fairly info-dumpy and at the same time badly lacking in character development, setting, plot and pacing. I gave it 2 stars.
This book is set first in the U.S. and then in Hell, I really liked the blurb and I thought it was going to be great, however, unfortunately, this was not my cup of tea, but I pushed through and finished it to see if my thoughts would change. Sam and Harper are friends, but Sam is a bit of a loser and gets bullied a lot. He loves Harper and decides to tell her one night over dinner, but she goes into his uncle's office and a demon arrives in the shop, Harper is then dragged off to Hell and Sam has to go get her back.
I immediately had an issue with the setting of this book, the author's note at the start of the book makes you think it will be set in the 90s, but it isn't, and that note really didn't make sense to me, it still doesn't. The writing style and the actual setting wasn't bad though, I had an issue with the pacing and I really thought that a lot of things were too obvious, there wasn't enough suspense, I knew what was going to happen before it did, and it just generally didn't grab me.
I did enjoy Thorlton's character though, I think it was my favourite part of the book. However, Sam, Harpen, Hollinshead, Moscow and others just were not very good characters, they were boring, they didn't really have much going for them and I wasn't interested in them in the least.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book, I pushed my way through, but it didn't get any better, I found it boring and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere. It seems like this story is not over, I would be inclined to read the second book if there is one, but I really don't fancy going through that again, so I'm probably going to give it a miss. It wasn't a bad book and I can see why others would really enjoy it, it just wasn't for me. It was fairly info-dumpy and at the same time badly lacking in character development, setting, plot and pacing. I gave it 2 stars.
alli_the_bookaholic13's review
3.0
Thank you to Dundurn Press for sending me an ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3/5 stars.
I liked the premise and concept of this book. This kid, Sam, who’s honestly pretty pathetic, goes on a quest into Hell to rescue Harper, his best friend and the girl he loves. While there, Sam often relies on other characters to take charge and fight. In the end, he did grow as a character by finally standing up for himself instead of hiding in the background. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like Sam. I didn’t connect with him at all. I felt like the author tried so hard to show that he was just a completely average person, that he made him unbelievable in the role of hero by the end.
I also didn’t really buy into the relationships in this book. Sam and Harper’s relationship struck me as a decent friendship, but I didn’t believe that either of them had real feelings of anything more for each other. I also didn’t think it was necessary for Sam to be declaring his love for Hollinshead by the end of the book. There was really nothing to their relationship and I had a hard time believing in it.
One thing I did like about the book was the vivid imagery that the author used. The descriptions of the different places in Hell were quite striking and they seemed well thought out.
I would have liked to see the same care taken with the descriptions of the setting put into enforcing the characters’ growth and relationships.
3/5 stars.
I liked the premise and concept of this book. This kid, Sam, who’s honestly pretty pathetic, goes on a quest into Hell to rescue Harper, his best friend and the girl he loves. While there, Sam often relies on other characters to take charge and fight. In the end, he did grow as a character by finally standing up for himself instead of hiding in the background. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like Sam. I didn’t connect with him at all. I felt like the author tried so hard to show that he was just a completely average person, that he made him unbelievable in the role of hero by the end.
I also didn’t really buy into the relationships in this book. Sam and Harper’s relationship struck me as a decent friendship, but I didn’t believe that either of them had real feelings of anything more for each other. I also didn’t think it was necessary for Sam to be declaring his love for Hollinshead by the end of the book. There was really nothing to their relationship and I had a hard time believing in it.
One thing I did like about the book was the vivid imagery that the author used. The descriptions of the different places in Hell were quite striking and they seemed well thought out.
I would have liked to see the same care taken with the descriptions of the setting put into enforcing the characters’ growth and relationships.
thefictionfeature's review
3.0
I have to say, I did like this book. I waited to start it for a while, but I liked it. I was hesitant about the whole "journey to Hell" aspect since similar things have been done a lot, but the world-building in this one was very different and very creative. I thought the characters were also really strong, too. I didn't think that Sam was a great character, but he was well-developed and I was dedicated to the others. I didn't find any plot holes either. Despite all of these good things, I didn't really get into the book. I don't know why, I thought it was good, but I didn't feel like it was my type of book.
I would mainly recommend this book to people who like traditional heroes' journeys and fantasy in general. I've read a lot of "storybook come true" books and I felt like this is good for people who like those too. I give this book a mediocre rating not because it's a bad book, but because I didn't connect with it. I did like the book, I just didn't love it enough to rate it higher.
I would mainly recommend this book to people who like traditional heroes' journeys and fantasy in general. I've read a lot of "storybook come true" books and I felt like this is good for people who like those too. I give this book a mediocre rating not because it's a bad book, but because I didn't connect with it. I did like the book, I just didn't love it enough to rate it higher.
inkslinger's review
3.0
ARC provided by Dundurn Press and Rob Shapiro via Edelweiss+ and NetGalley. All opinions are mine and freely given.
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08-21: 'The Book of Sam' by Rob Shapiro is a "hell-bound fantasy starring demons, damsels, and an unlikely hero."
If you're anything like me, that simple tagline is more than enough to make you want to read the book. I jumped at the chance for a copy, but sadly.. it was a disappointment.
After finishing the book, as per usual.. I began to do a little research on it. Of course, I discovered it had been a Wattpad story. Had I known that, I would have probably looked long and hard at the decision to read it, but I try not to let too much in the way of preconceived beliefs get in my way. There certainly are exceptions to my personal rule of Wattpad, however.. about seventy percent of the books with Wattpad origins I've read, have been.. let's just say, not to my liking.
In this story, we follow sixteen-year-old Sam.. a kid who suffers abuse from most of his peers and suffers under the weight of his father, a man who sees greatness in Sam's siblings and nothing in him. Sam pretty much has one friend, a girl he crushes on named Harper.. that at some point in his miserable childhood just designated herself his faithful protector.
As a kid who seems to do everything wrong, Sam gets an idea from his Uncle to sweep Harper off her feet and confess his feelings for her. A toxic mixture of curiosity, fear, and the need to please lead to the kidnapping of the girl he loves, as she's dragged into Hell. Literally. But unwilling to let her go, he decides to go after her.
I know.. I know what you're thinking. It sounds like an exciting adventure fraught with danger, the opportunity for wildly creative hellscapes, fantastical elements of magic and demon lore, all in search of his best friend.
Certainly there is danger.. there are a couple of interesting world-building moments, though mostly even in the cases they're explained rather extensively, they're still not explained all that well. They read instead, like half-formed visual ideas and as with most of the book, I felt the author simply lacked the imagination and language to truly breathe life into them.
The dialogue is mostly terrible, which in hindsight.. knowing that the author is a TV writer that has dabbled in film, I'm unsurprised. Long have I lamented the weak dialogue work in these areas. There are barely more than a handful of popular TV and film writers who I feel understand how we interact well enough to convey it in dialogue, a few more probably who are lesser known, but this is an area that strong authors have always done well with. It's almost like novelists.. good novelists.. just have an extra muscle somewhere everyone else is missing.
Though Sam's backstory is in theory, meant to be sad.. and some of the characters we meet along the way even have what should be tragic backstories, the author presented them in a way that meant little to me. He failed to make me care even a little if any of the main characters would succeed in their goals.
Yet, Shapiro isn't unable to convey those feelings entirely. He just fails to apply them to those who should matter most in the story. I cared very much about how things would turn out for a little incubus named Thorlton and even a little for a bigger one named Moscow.
I'm a big fan of stories told in this kind of world, so there was a lot of potential for me to love this book. The execution just wasn't there. I feel like if the author could shake the mindset of images he can show us on screen and learn to flex some muscle with words, he could maybe reach another level with his writing.. but that's purely conjecture on my part. Maybe this is all he's got.
From a technical standpoint, it's fine.. though, I've never seen so many 'and' sentences back to back in a book. That felt odd and a lot like the way the kids wrote in my grade school, but whatever. It's not a book filled with glaring errors in novel writing or anything. It just falls very flat for me. Maybe you'll be more forgiving.
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08-20: It has actually taken me a few days to read this, largely because I'm bored and keep staring at it like an annoying neighbor. lol
08-17: Only about 10% into the book and already feeling bad for Sam.. geez.. people can be so awful to each other.
08-16: So curious about this one..