Great storytelling, well rounded and entertaining. To begin with, Joe Hill keeps you guessing whether or not Ig is evil himself, and who exactly killed his girlfriend? But as the story progresses, not only is everything revealed, but some interesting concepts of mind-reading, memory loss, revealed private inner thoughts, and some thought-provoking ideas about God and the devil, are explored. Enjoyable revenge story.
References to cups of Tang and Lorna Doone sandwich cookies, Benson tv series, Karl Rove & Lou Gehrig. ( )

I struggled with whether to rate this book 2 or 3 stars. I guess 2.5 would be about right. I liked (or disliked, as it may be) the characters, but I just feel like something was missing from the story. It just feels like the author was all over the place with this book. I much, much prefer Heart-Shaped Box. ( )

So, so good. I can't imagine a story with this premise executed better.
Here's what worked (with spoilers):
- The author reveals the capabilities and limitations of the horns through Ig's experimentation throughout the story. The reader learns the rules of the world alongside the protagonist. This makes the devil concept that much more believable.
- Even though much of Lee's, the (main) villain, life very closely aligns with your average murderous incel origin story (killing small animals, hatred towards his mother (very slightly of reminiscent of Zelda from Pet Semetary), emotional and physically absent father), he still provides plenty of terror and suspense to the story. His childhood dynamic with Ig is all kinds of unnerving and interesting.
- The non-linear telling is perfectly assembled. We get inklings from different perspectives throughout the story and so that there isn't just one big cheap reveal at the end.
- The psychic exchanges Ig has with other characters are as indulgent as I hoped they'd be. The ones with side characters are horrible and hilarious and just fun to read. The ones with other important characters don't make Ig's eventual victory particular easy or convenient.
- I also have to mention how much I enjoyed the little detail about Merrin withholding her secret from Lee, telling him that her letter to Ig was a game of squares. I think the letter really was the only artifact we needed from Merrin. The one time we got to hear directly from her also gave Ig the closure he needed. All of this was done without being (too) saccharin.

What didn't work (kind of nitpicking):
- Lee's character arc didn't shed much insight as to why he is as evil as he is. I can't identify any redeeming qualities and weaknesses this man has. I wouldn't rag on this if this wasn't a story comprised of all grey characters with all their ugliest thoughts reveal to us.
- The unwarranted sprinkling of random racially slurs from already terrible and unredeemable characters (Lee and the mother from the clinic). The former already killed his own mother and his childhood friend. The author making them casually racist can't make the reader think any less of them.
- I am undecided on how I feel about the use of religion in the story. Of course, the man turns into a literally so its presence is undoubtedly necessary. At times its quite heavy handed and cheesy. This is especially evident during Ig's PDA with the snakes lol.
( )

This is a dark book. Full of despair, horror, and uglisness. The writing is wonderful but it is not a feel good book. You will have trouble finding anyone to root for including Ig. It will make you think. Not because of some deep inner mystery because lays most of the plot about by page 50. Instead you will wonder about the demons and despair everyone around you might be carrying around. Only a four star for me because I felt the pacing was off in a few spots. It was still a great way to start off my Halloween horror read-a-thon. ( )

Easy to read and was engaging so I went through this pretty fast. It had a couple of corny moments but otherwise was a pretty cool concept and I liked the ending. ( )