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June 2016-Group Read #1-The Fireman by Joe Hill
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I stopped listening to HEX because the narrator was awful and I started listening to this. I am about 30% in to it. I like the narrator alot and I'm glad I went with the audio version. Unfortunately I can't say the same about Harper's husband- He's a jerk! Im liking the story a lot more now that he's not the main focus at the moment. Overall, I feel about the same as Leah, it's good but not great. I still have a ways to go though so my feelings may change, one way or the other.
John wrote: "Aden wrote: "John wrote: "Aden wrote: "I am disheartened by how often I check to see how much is left and wonder what else they could possibly do. This one is dragging for me big time."I know wha..."
I have not tried Indian Hill but, I loved the Zombie Fallout books that I read.
I have finished and I have to say that I am not impressed. The ending was forced to fit an expectation I think and didn't really fit. I was already wavering with my rating and in the end it made 2 stars for me. "It was OK"
Aden wrote: "I have finished and I have to say that I am not impressed. The ending was forced to fit an expectation I think and didn't really fit. I was already wavering with my rating and in the end it made 2 ..."I gave it 3 but I agree it was very disappointing. I have enjoyed his other books and this one was just not up to the same standard.
Finished last night and I am finally free of this monster novel. I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed it, but I kind of hated it. I've been a big fan of Hill's previous books, so it was a big disappointment.
Jeremy wrote: "Finished last night and I am finally free of this monster novel. I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed it, but I kind of hated it. I've been a big fan of Hill's previous books, so it was a big disap..."Awww, that IS a bummer. :(
I guess the lesson is they can't all be hits? Does anyone remember Pygmy
? That may have been the worst thing I ever read but, it was by one of my favorite authors of all time.
I really enjoyed The Fireman, I am sorry so many of you did not enjoy it.
Mod
It was definitely a very polarizing read. While a few thought it was ok, most either loved it or hated it. I can't remember the last one that was so split. At least a lot of people read it. :-)
Kimberly wrote: "In any group read, you'll have people with differing viewpoints. I think it made for some great discussions--there were many parts I loved, personally; however, I think I'd have enjoyed it even mor..."I do like it when the discussion is lively.
I'm still on the waiting list but now I'm not so sure. I liked nos4a2 and lock & key but there was a few joe hill books I did not like at all.
Mod
Love Locke & Key and NOS4A2...
Kimberly wrote: "Latasha wrote: "I'm still on the waiting list but now I'm not so sure. I liked nos4a2 and lock & key but there was a few joe hill books I did not like at all."Love Locke & Key and NOS4A2..."
Oh, I loved them too :)
Marc-Antoine wrote: "I really enjoyed The Fireman, I am sorry so many of you did not enjoy it."I agree. I'm really enjoying this book. Granted I'm only 72% in so who knows if the ending will sway my opinion. Also granted this is my first Hill book. No wait, I take that back, I'm on the 4th volume of Locke & Key and I really love those graphic novels. But for the most part, I haven't found a dull moment in this one. I find myself always reaching for this book although unfortunately I don't always have a lot of time to read. :(
I think if you've enjoyed it this far, you'll like it all the way through the end. The finish was in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book.While I did not love the book, I did enjoy the discussion thread this month.
I'm not much of a dystopia fan, but I found The Fireman and enjoyable book. The book read like The Lord of the Flies with the balance between good and evil. I found the character development engaging and I disliked the characters I should have disliked. I read where The Fireman is going to be made into a movie. But I have not read any confirmation of the movie plans.
Marc-Antoine wrote: "I really enjoyed The Fireman, I am sorry so many of you did not enjoy it." I'm with you. I thought it was an awesome read.
I'm always amazed in reading groups how many can love and many can detest a book.....still that's the beauty of debate and discussion and it would be a pity if we were all felt the same. For me I was very disappointed and the story dragged on and on....but I kept at it until the bitter end...and posted a review :(https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am at 53% and I am very entertained by the unique Dragonscale.
John wrote: "Aden wrote: "John wrote: "Aden wrote: "I am disheartened by how often I check to see how much is left and wonder what else they could possibly do. This one is dragging for me big time."I know wha..."
I love the Zombie Fallout Series!
I'm over half done with The Fireman and I'm hoping it picks back up. I loved the book for so long but now I'm just wanting it to end. I don't know if it's because it may just be too long and is getting a little dry or what. I might should have taken a break and read some other book to break it up. Otherwise, I think it's a great story line.
I got over that hump and started loving it again. I still thing about 100 pages or so could have been cut so there would have been no lag
Melissa wrote: "I got over that hump and started loving it again. I still thing about 100 pages or so could have been cut so there would have been no lag"I think the same thing. Like father, like son! ; )
I just finished this book today. I was intimidated by the size of the book. I found that his writing sucked me in and I could not stop reading. I'm still new at writing book reviews. I'm hoping I will get better with this over time. But I just have to say, this was a great book!
That's great Angelica :-)
I just finished the book and thought it was really good. Held me all the way to the end which surprised me for the size that it is. I know some people thought it was too long but I was fine with it. I'm glad I decided to tackle it.
Just finished. This is perfect. I will be giving it five stars.: )
Finished it last night. It was a slow starter and, as others have said, could have done with a bit more editing but overall it was a decent read. Not the best dystopian I have ever read but nowhere near the worst either. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting tbh, it's called 'The Fireman' but (view spoiler).Others have compared it to 'The Stand' and I have read that too but I must say that I prefer Joe Hill's books to Stephen King. King's books just don't seem to click with me. Overall, I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't rush to read it again. I gave it 3 stars.
Gayle wrote: "Finished it last night. It was a slow starter and, as others have said, could have done with a bit more editing but overall it was a decent read. Not the best dystopian I have ever read but nowhere..."Lol I thought the same thing about the title. I was going to comment on it but I forgot. Yes the fireman is in a lot of the story but it was mostly about Harper.
Gayle wrote: "Finished it last night. It was a slow starter and, as others have said, could have done with a bit more editing but overall it was a decent read. Not the best dystopian I have ever read but nowhere..."that's interesting. I'm just the opposite. I prefer Papa's books. I haven't read all of eithers so that's just based on a few. I'm still on the waiting list for this one.
Argh, I gave up 75% of the way through. Big Joe Hill fan but this just dragged. Kate Mulgrew is an awesome narrator though - if you haven't read/listened to
yet, she does a great job.
I also thought Kate Mulgrew is an awesome narrator!
I, too, LOVED Mulgrew's narration of NOs4A2. So much so that I bought her audio of The Fireman, even though I already read it. :)
Randy wrote: "Argh, I gave up 75% of the way through. Big Joe Hill fan but this just dragged. Kate Mulgrew is an awesome narrator though - if you haven't read/listened to yet, she doe..."loved it!!!
I am about 3/4 through it now and other than the strong language and a few scenes...this book is almost a young adult survival yarn. It's really been done to death....plague...survivors band together...soon the people are worse than the plague. I'm hoping for some really big moments to kick in but so far this isn't what I was expecting. I do like the idea that the setting isn't "world gone to Hell already"...still sort of in the middle which is a nice change.
When I saw Joe Hill was releasing a new book I was so excited because I have really enjoyed his previous work, especially NOS4A2. This story had me on the edge of my seat and feeling so nervous and scared for everyone. Harper is an excellent character and I loved learning more about The Fireman as the story unfolded. I had seen some reviews relating this story to Stephen King's The Stand and even accusing Joe Hill of...sounding too much like his dad? I didn't pick up on that at all and really wish I hadn't read the negative reviews before beginning this because it was a bit distracting. I thought the story itself was original and SCARY and I loved every minute of it. I could totally see this becoming a movie. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
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Books mentioned in this topic
NOS4A2 (other topics)NOS4A2 (other topics)
Pygmy (other topics)
NOS4A2 (other topics)
The Fireman (other topics)
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First, Kelly you didn't include any spoilers! No worries. I was just avoiding any sort of hints at all!
Second, I thought the book was really good, but not great. I didn't have the same problems that some of the other readers had -- for example, I thought it was excellently plotted and moved right along -- but I was a little disappointed in the ending (view spoiler)[ the trap didn't really make sense to me -- seemed like it would have been a lot less effort and more likely if the Mainers just decided to think people with Dragonscale were awful after they had the island rebellion and went back to being scared of them or killing them or whatever. I also disliked the whole John phoenix thing at the end since it seemed inconsistent with what we sort of knew about Dragonscale -- how did it survive without fire -- a la the Mom -- or why didn't it just dissipate? The whole leading Don to them was so forced imo. (hide spoiler)].
Also, unlike others I didn't find the character development outstanding, but it wasn't bad either. People just didn't always behave in the way they probably would and certain characters -- like Harold? Ugh the kid with the diary from Camp Wyndham who was in a way supposed to be Harold from The Stand I think -- were entirely too two-dimensional and seemed created to serve plot efficiently, rather than realistically (view spoiler)[ it seems easy to have someone without any redeeming features advance the plot quickly -- here is a bad guy and he does bad things -- but aren't necessarily 100% realistic. Harold-guy and Jakob come to mind. But maybe I give too much credit to people and there are 100% true jerks without redeeming qualities or thoughts. (hide spoiler)]