Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
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Book Reviews of Heart-Shaped Box
Book Review: Well Written But Light On Scares
Summary: 4 Stars
3 AND 1/2 STARS
Maybe all the hype on this book has clouded my experience, and although I found the book enjoyable, the story had a few problems that could not be overlooked. There is no denying that the writing is quite good, but it was the storytelling and scare factor that had me a little disappointed. I think Joe Hill's style is way too close to his father, writer Stephen King, drawing events out longer than they need to be, with overly descriptive details that slow down the pace and intensity. It seemed halfway through the novel, Mr. Hill forgot he was writing a genre book and began to veer towards a more dramatic, sentimental piece that felt consistently predictable. The ending, as well, was tied up way too neatly. I felt as if my mother would enjoy it, and anything my mother can handle in the horror genre is something I try and steer clear of.
The setup with the dead man's clothing was fantastic and the characters were very interesting, but eventually the story seemed to break its own rules, adding more and more fantastical elements until practically anything imaginable could happen and you wouldn't think twice about it. The protagonist seemed to handle the danger too casually, and as a reader, if the characters are not scared, how am I supposed to be scared? Maybe the horror genre is not a good fit for Hill. I've read his short stories and felt the same way with that format. With a couple exceptions,they just don't chill your bones. All excellent writing, but again, it felt like the wrong genre. I realize he has big shoes to fill, but maybe a straight dramatic piece would be a better fit for his writing in the future.
Book Review: Poorly written book with stellar reviews? What gives?
Summary: 1 Stars
I am utterly perplexed. After reading this stinker, how can these quotes on the book's cover be correct? Here are some samples:
* "Wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty" -- New York Times
* "Powerful & Compelling" -- L.A. Times Book review
* "Surprising, inventive Ghost-Storyteller" -- Chicago Tribune.
How in the world can these quotes be true?
This book is ultimately amateurish in its crafting . . . with a ridiculously low vocabulary threshold for its readers. The "Haunted Suit" mentioned in reviews is silly, never fully explained, and the book ends without resolving why it is even in the book. I understand that this is a work of fiction, but some of the basic plot set-up devices are unbelievable at best, and intelligence-insulting at worse.
Everyone knows that Joe Hill's dad is Stephan King. Although some mentorship from his father may have occurred, it is clear that this practice novel should have been shoved under the bed. "New York Times Bestseller" indeed! We may never be privy to the publishing-house strings pulled to get the kind of review quotes that adorn the cover of this stinker. What we can be sure of, though, is that some reviewers are definitely in somebody's pockets! Egads.
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Looking for a good horror read? Try one of these instead, if you haven't read them already:
* "The Shining," "Pet Semetery," or "Christine" by Stephen King
* "Boys Life" by Robert McCammon
* "Drood" or "The Terror" by Dan Simmons
* "The Prestige" by Christopher Priest
Good luck! :)
Book Review: "Heart-Shaped" Ends up Being a Little Square
Summary: 3 Stars
Heart-Shaped Box is a gripping, well-plotted ghost/supernatural tale - right up until the last 50 pages or so, when the book comes to its TV-movie-of-the-week denouement, stops being sinister or scary, and edges dangerously close to being inadvertently funny. When the "ghost/demon" climbs out of a body and nearly trips because his foot gets stuck in the body's throat ... well, you see the problem. Just as the protagonist (who, at that point, has been shot, stabbed, slashed with razors, and run over) opens a door into the underworld, he "thinks of an airplane descending too rapidly." No, I bet he doesn't. There's more than a casual whiff of Stephen King here: If you like Stephen King (and I do), it won't distract you much, though Hill has also picked up some of King's worst tics: over-reliance on dream sequences; overuse of invented terminology or language (which he then repeats and re-repeats and re- re- re-repeats until you're ready to reveal any military secrets you happen to know); lame puns and other "humorous" asides that are meant to reveal character (one imagines) but which simply accumulate and lie there, stinking up the place. Most of the final chapters (including several that are about a paragraph in length) have exactly that feeling of those "explanations" that come up at the end of a film before the final credits: they "wrap up" loose ends (too neatly) and "fix" holes in the plot that the author hasn't been skillful enough to fix in the course of the book. All of that is awkward enough to compromise the 300 pages of prose that came before. It's a good ride, until the end. Hill can only get better.Book Review: Creepy Beginning, Slow Ending
Summary: 3 Stars
I expected a lot from this novel - not only because the author is Stephen King's son, but it received many 5-star reviews and generally positive reception from the critics.
This book started out as a very promising horror story; but after the first 150 pages, the plot slowed down and it did not captivate me as much compared to the beginning. The beginning was truly creepy (the first appearance of the old man's ghost, Danny's call, and all the weird events happening in the house), and I thought Hill's writing was flawless in describing all the chilling details. But as the story progressed, the plot got a little far-fetched and dragged out, and the old man's motive for killing the main characters, Jude and Georgia, became more and more unconvincing and vague (maybe it's just me, but I thought the motive in the beginning made a lot more sense). Also, the relationship between Jude and Georgia got a little dull and generic compared to the beginning (when they still have some personalities). The timing of the book was also very weird; it felt like the author omitted time when Jude and Georgia were on the road... it was like as if the characters were jumping places to places (this novel isn't the Dark Tower series... when time didn't matter). I was also disappointed by the ending because it didn't fit in with the horror theme and felt a little forced.
I would give this book 5 stars for the first 150 pages because it was really freaky to read, but overall an average rating because of the dragged out plot and anticlimactic progression of the book.
Book Review: A Treat for those identifying with Goth I guess
Summary: 2 Stars
This may be a treat for those who can identify with, depression, self-mutilation, suicide, and other low forms of human behavior exclusive of there being anything better in life. An interesting start, it's as if the reader (or audiobook listener in my case) jumps onto a literary sinking ship and goes down, down, blub, blub, blub. Aging rock star musician Judas Coyne and his victim-of-life girlfriend "Georgia," have to figure a way to end being chased by a murderous ghost who was the father of one of Judas' many former slutty girlfriends, "Florida." She committed suicide after Judas tossed her aside in his pursuit to screw his way through all 50 states.
Although not scary as was stated in the review that got me to pick this one up, I could have really appreciated this story as a short story leaving out the numerous acts of horrendous injustices the main characters experienced as naive youth at the hands of close family members. Each incident is related during periods of ghostly inaction, and each character is able to whip out an incident that tops that of the last told. By disc six I was calling to have them put out of their misery...
Joe Hill can write, the audio narration was fine, I just didn't care for the story as entertainment. In this genre what pops to mind at this moment that I have liked was Apt Pupil by Stephen King, the audio version of The Mist also by Stephen King, the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz, A Watcher by the Dead an old short story by Ambrose Bierce, it's worth finding.