Hey friends,

Today I'm doing a collaboration with Tiffany from Angelized 1st.  With the Halloween release of Horns staring Daniel Radcliffe, we decided to both read Horns by Joe Hill and view the movie.  Visit Tiffany's blog to follow Daniel Radcliffe’s movie journey from Hogwarts to Horns. Below you'll find my review of Horns the book and my opinion on the movie adaptation. 

You can also find Tiffany on Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads and her YouTube channel!  Don't forget to drop if and read Tiffany's post!

Publisher: William Morrow | HarperCollins e-books 
Release Date: First published January 1, 2010
Format: Kindle
Pages: 466 pages
Source: Amazon
Genre: Horror
Review Date: October 30, 2014
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis:At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It’s time for a little revenge. . . . It’s time the devil had his due. . . .

What I can say with absolute certainty is that this book is memorable.  Every chapter, every page, things just got more and more shocking. Ig and Merrin were a true idealistic love story that crash and burned in the worst way possible. We watch Ig and Merrin fall in love and we watch the relationship crumble. Merrin is murdered and while not put to trail or convinced, Ig is the number one suspect in everyone's eyes. After a night of drinking that he can't remember Ig wakes up with horns and his whole world shifts. With these horns people blurt out to him every bad thought and secret that they would never normally speak aloud. Ig can also touch them and see everything that that they've ever done, the horrible things anyway.

This book is dark, it's screwed up, and it's hard to put down.  Characters have tons of depth and they all evolve. Some for the worst and some for the better.  Ig is a good guy, for the most part all of these characters are good people in their teen years. They get good grades, they get accepted into Ivy league colleges, have internships in amazing and high places. They all seem like the quintessential New England middle upper class teens.  But there's always one rotten egg that spoils the bunch. You'll have to read the book to find out who and why!

I liked how everything was wrapped up at the end of the story and the revelations were compelling.  We find out why Ig and Merrin's relationship crumbled at the end, and it's sad. We find out who murdered, how and why. 

This was my first time reading Joe Hill, and it was a good experience. I'll be reading more from him.  I recently found out that Hill's father is Stephen King, go figure.  I had no clue, but once I knew that, I could see where the ability to weave a twisted story comes from. If you're up to reading something in this genre, I recommend giving Horns a try. 

Continue on to find out my thoughts of the movie adaptation of Horns.

Publisher: The Random House Publishing Group 
Release Date: First published October 16, 2012 / Audio unabridged edition released October 16, 2012 by Random House Audio
Format: MP3
Pages: 568 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 27 hours
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Horror
Review Date: February 19, 2014
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis: At the end of The Passage, the great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. In the second volume of this epic trilogy, this same group of survivors, led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals: the first offensives of the Second Viral War.

To do this, they must infiltrate a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral—but whose side, in the end, is she really on?

Initially I thought this book would get a rating of 3, but after thinking on it a few days I pushed it up to a 4 because after finishing the book, I kept thinking about it. The longer I thought about it, the more I liked it.

The Twelve essentially picks up 5 years after The Passage. The Twelve refers to the twelve original virals, the death-row-inmate subjects turned-virals from the blood of Zero during "Project Noah". To save the world, all twelve must be eliminated.

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: First published January 1, 2010/ Audio unabridged edition released June 8, 2010 by Random House Audio
Format: MP3
Pages: 784 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 37 hours
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Horror
Review Date: January 10, 2014
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis:An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Dare I say this was an epic tale?  Yep, I do. There was soooo much to this story. So multifaceted, so much detail, so many characters. It's actually hard to even address everything properly without writing a mini-book of my own. So I'll try my best without giving away major plot points.

What's this book about? In a nutshell it's a vampire fantasy novel set in a dystopia/post apocalyptic world about a girl who saves the world.   I've also included a video from the author where he talks about the book. pretty interesting stuff.

Publisher: Washington Square Press 
Release Date: September 20, 2005 (original)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496
Source: Purchased
Genre: AA Fiction, Horror
Review Date: August 16, 2012
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Book Synopsis: When Phoenix Smalls was ten, she nearly died at her parents' jazz club when she was crushed by a turn-of-the-century piano. Now twenty-four, Phoenix is launching a career as an R & B singer. She's living out her dreams  and seems destined for fame and fortune. But a chance visit to a historical site in St. Louis ignites a series of bizarre, erotic encounters with a spirit who may be the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin. 

The sound of Scott Joplin is strange enough to the ears of the hip-hop generation. But the idea that these antique sounds are being channeled through Phoenix? Her life is suddenly hanging in the balance. How will she find her true voice and calling? Can the power of her own inner song give Phoenix the strength to fight to live out her own future? Or will she be forever trapped in Scott Joplin's doomed, tragic past? Stunningly original, Joplin's Ghost is a novel filled with art and intrigue -- and is sure to bring music to readers' ears.   

I enjoyed Ms. Due's writing style.  I always enjoy third person writing.  Personally, it seems that I get a lot more details when it's written in this style. Ms.Due had tons of historical information written in an entertaining way.   There must have been tons of research that went into this book.

The story was a pretty even mix of historical fiction and a urban ghost story all rolled up into one. I'd almost say this could even be considered speculative fiction.  The story splits it time in the early 1900's and the present. The story was both detailed and entertaining. This book is a little longer than what I'm used to. It's been a long while since I've read a book over 450 pages, and it was worth every page.  I picked up this book on a close out sale $4! Score! It's been sitting on my shelf for the last 3-4 years, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally read it, but I'm glad that I finally did.  I ended up suggesting it for one of the book clubs that I'm in, and go figure, they wanted to read it!  

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Format: Adobe EPUB eBook
Pages: 368
Source: Destination Download 
Genre: Historical Fiction. Fantasy, Book To Movie Adaptations
Review Date: August 5, 2012
Rating: 3 bookmarks 

I picked this book up for two reason. First, I saw the crazy movie trailer months ago and I was intrigued. I thought it was a crazy premise for a movie! I haven't seen the movie yet, by the way, but the trailer is below.  The second reason is that after seeing the trailer, I started to see a lot of people reviewing this book. Usually the book is better than the movie, so I thought, why not. It seems like it could be good.

Was it good? Yes, it was. But for some reason it took me a really long time to read it.  I believe it's probably more due the author writing style instead of the story itself. The story kept switching POVs, within the same chapter. One paragraph it's reading the story of what happened from a third person, the next paragraph we're reading an entry from Lincoln's journal (in first person), the next we are reading a letter from someone (in first person), or experiencing a dream (sometimes first person, sometimes 3rd person)!  That did take a little bit to get used to.