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morganjanedavis 's review for:

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
4.0

This was a great ghost story, especially for spooky season. The story follows used to be rock star Jude and his girlfriend Georgia (Marybeth) as they deal with a haunting brought on by one of Jude's exes family member(s). This book picked up very quickly and was fast paced from around page 30. The ghost in the story is truly terrifying and the imagery Hill creates genuinely spooked me at some points! While I liked the storyline and the spookiness of the haunting, I really disliked the main character, Jude. He consistently treats those around him (especially women) as disposable objects, going as far as to call the women he gets with solely by their state of origin. It is even supposed to be a "sweet moment" in the book when he begins to call Marybeth Marybeth and not Georgia even though she's told him that it bothers her when he calls her Georgia. Along with this, every woman he gets with is 20+ years younger, and at the beginning of the book he even admitted that seeing Marybeth barefaced and asleep she looked like a child and he felt a pang of weirdness for even being with her. I liked the story but I hated that Jude was made out to be a guy who treated women poorly then learned his lesson when this one stuck around thorough loads of bs (supernatural and Jude just being Jude) and he turned out to be a "good guy". Personally, I feel that a "good guy" wouldn't have taken advantage of this abused woman 20+ years his junior, and then chalk it up to being in love after she'd stuck through his shit. Overall I loved the plot and the haunting/events truly did keep me interested. I would have liked it more if Jude wasn't such a selfish creep. If you're looking for a spooky haunt I do suggest this but beware of the toxic main character FR.