Horns

by Joe Hill

[cornerfolds]

A couple of weeks ago I was minding my own business, watching The Next Great Baker, when a trailer for a new movie popped up on my Facebook feed. Harry Potter's face was there, so I obviously watched it. I was in awe of this trailer. The film looked like it would be completely amazing, so I decided to share it with my friends. That was when I was told that it was based on a book and that the book was (apparently) epic.

I went into Horns with very high expectations after seeing such an awesome trailer and hearing such great reviews for the source material. The story is about Ig, a guy who has been dealt a really crappy card (i.e. his girlfriend, Merrin, was murdered and everyone thinks he did it) and wakes up one morning with horns on his head. Shenanigans ensue. I was completely captivated by the first fourth of this book. Then, very suddenly, the true murderer is revealed and the book completely switches gears.

The next half of the book is a series of long and drawn out (um, hello, it's half the book) unnecessary flashbacks. The book literally jumps back to Ig as a fifteen year old and the reader is taken through his teen years with Merrin, how they met, fell in love, etc. Ig's best friend, Lee, is also put under the microscope and we learn all about his childhood including, but not limited to, the tom cat that used to meow from his back yard. It was about this time when I found out that Joe Hill was, in fact, the son of Stephen King. It was about this time when everything started to make sense.

This is a Stephen King book written by another hand. Everything about this book screams King. Don't get me wrong - I love some of Stephen King's books. That being said, he has a way of dragging things out to a ridiculous point and including tons of minute details like which way the grass was blowing at this time or that. While it came in at only 368 pages, Horns took me 10 days to read and I actually listened to the last several chapters on audiobook on a four hour drive. Otherwise it would have taken longer. But I digress...

Apart from learning about the childhood of each character, the flashback portions of the book detail the murder of Merrin and all the events leading up to it from multiple points of view. While I understand that all of these flashbacks were supposed to relay relevant information that could only be portrayed by the person who'd experienced it, it could have been done in a different, less grueling way.

Finally, the ending. I had a few problems with the ending. The first is that it's far too neat and tidy. I guess the surprise at the end was supposed to be sweet and gratifying, but it just seemed ridiculous (which is saying a lot considering the book's premise). The other issue is that there were unanswered questions. For example, what the heck was the point of the horns? So he "needed" them? Why? I would assume that a bad person would end up turning into a devil - not someone who was completely innocent. And what was the actual point of the treehouse? It truly just seemed like a lot of randomness thrown onto the pages and attempting to make some deep, philosophical point.

I didn't completely hate Horns. I enjoyed the first little bit and really any part that dealt with present-day Ig and his horn problem. Overall, though, this book was just a "meh" book. Nothing special. I'll still see the movie, for sure, because I feel like it just has to be better. There's no way they can replay the same thing three times in the movie. Everyone would hate it!

Actual rating: 2.5 stars