"Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill (BR)

[Alex]

There's not much to add which hasn't already been said by Anthony, Jemppu and Gabi. I feel like so much could have been done with the ideas in this story... but Hill decided to play it safe with caricatures instead of fleshed out characters. Ah well. I'll finish it anyway.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Anthony wrote: "I’m finding it a bit of a slog in part 2, [spoilers removed]"

I'm just starting Part 2, I think, but this has been a concern of mine for a few chapters now... I mean, there's so much of the book left, and I feel like the book jumped into the deep end too fast, so there's really nowhere to go but around?

[Maggie]

I really enjoyed this. I thought there was a good buildup of the creepiness of the ghost. I thought the ending was very action-packed! Although the characters of the protagonists may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, there was definitely growth....but I will agree Craddock and Jessica did not have that.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Through Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[I'm enjoying the beginning of the road trip - the time spent in the hotel and learning more about Anna and a bit more about Jude. Waiting for the shoe to drop, of course, but I'm good with actually delving a bit more into the characters for awhile. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Finished.
(view spoiler)[No strong reaction either way. As I wrote above, it seems like a standard horror story. I may have read somewhere that there are many echoes of Stephen King's (Joe Hill's father) books, such as the killer car in Christine. I get that Jude is unlikable for most of the story because he hasn't dealt with his past, but an unlikable protagonist is a big handicap. It feels like the first novel it was - Hill dipping his toe in the water. (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

@Maggie - Glad you enjoyed it! I liked about 3/5.

@colleen - Good parts there.

@Chris - (view spoiler)[I thought it started well and then went sideways at once Jude & MB got to Jessica's. Meh. We're going to kill you because you may know something didn't fit well with all of the other pieces. Since it was the point, the rest of the story should have lead up to it or made it fit better. The excuse that Craddock is a control freak crazy was established but he didn't feel like a solid character. Just a one dimensional & predictable crapster.

I think the book could have been better. (hide spoiler)]

[Gianfranco]

Reading and loving it! My first novel from Joe Hill, I've read previously his Locke & Key comic book series and it was great. A creepy and sometimes disturbing read, but from Stephen King's kid I was just expecting nothing different :)

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

So, I finished this yesterday. I'm feeling kind of meh about it. Think I'm giving it 2.5 stars - though I haven't decided whether to round up or down, yet.

It's one of those books that wasn't bad while I was reading it, but when I wasn't reading it I didn't feel any real compulsion to get back to it.

I did find the twist interesting, about how (view spoiler)[Anna hadn't killed herself and it was just Jessica and Craddock being gross and terrible people, but I also agree that this took away what little character development they had. (hide spoiler)]