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A review by bookshelfjpg
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3.0
Actual Rating: 3.5/5
This one I didn't love but I also didn't dislike it. I'm pretty in between on it which ultimately took the rating down in my opinion. Let's crack into it -
Pros: I shall start by saying I LOVE Joe Hill. I love the idea of him taking after his dad writing horror, I like that he obviously has a passion for it, and I can't wait to read NOS4A2 (which is a long time coming - it's been sitting on my bookshelf for a solid year, I just haven't had the dang time). So I was finally excited to cross this one off my list. I liked the idea of the story, the characters were appropriately likeable (which I find important in horror - you don't want to spend 300+ pages rooting for someone you hate). The ghost was different and unique, he harnessed qualities that I personally haven't found yet in other ghostly figures in books. Although mildly batshit crazy, the plot carried itself well with realistic things and happenings.
Cons: This was a long book, which is FINE except it did not hold my attention super well. It starts off fairly fast, all of a sudden we're already in the thick of it all. So it was a surprise that literally the book and story line lasts the whole book. I feel like it could have succeeded regardless, even losing a couple fluff pages. When I'm rating a horror book and thinking about what I liked and didn't like about it, honestly I tend to really focus on whether it did it's job scaring me. This one, deemed super scary by a whole bunch of people, did not give me shivers. Which is okay, I feel like it's rare to find something that really gives me the creeps these days.
All in all, I went into this with high expectations (I really need to stop doing this). It was an okay read, it was entirely entertaining, I loved the dogs, and all was good. I'm glad I finally read it and I'm excited to see where Joe Hill's writing has grown since this release.
This one I didn't love but I also didn't dislike it. I'm pretty in between on it which ultimately took the rating down in my opinion. Let's crack into it -
Pros: I shall start by saying I LOVE Joe Hill. I love the idea of him taking after his dad writing horror, I like that he obviously has a passion for it, and I can't wait to read NOS4A2 (which is a long time coming - it's been sitting on my bookshelf for a solid year, I just haven't had the dang time). So I was finally excited to cross this one off my list. I liked the idea of the story, the characters were appropriately likeable (which I find important in horror - you don't want to spend 300+ pages rooting for someone you hate). The ghost was different and unique, he harnessed qualities that I personally haven't found yet in other ghostly figures in books. Although mildly batshit crazy, the plot carried itself well with realistic things and happenings.
Cons: This was a long book, which is FINE except it did not hold my attention super well. It starts off fairly fast, all of a sudden we're already in the thick of it all. So it was a surprise that literally the book and story line lasts the whole book. I feel like it could have succeeded regardless, even losing a couple fluff pages. When I'm rating a horror book and thinking about what I liked and didn't like about it, honestly I tend to really focus on whether it did it's job scaring me. This one, deemed super scary by a whole bunch of people, did not give me shivers. Which is okay, I feel like it's rare to find something that really gives me the creeps these days.
All in all, I went into this with high expectations (I really need to stop doing this). It was an okay read, it was entirely entertaining, I loved the dogs, and all was good. I'm glad I finally read it and I'm excited to see where Joe Hill's writing has grown since this release.