NOS4A2
by Joe Hill 

• Publisher: William Morrow 
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• ISBN-13: 978-0062200587
• Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Psychological Thriller

Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.

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A MON REVIEW

Hello my pretties! Today I bring you the frightful and breath-taking NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. This was my second audiobook, I read with ear-holes this time (I don’t care what you say Dee, I read with my ears). It was so exciting! Just like this book. Oh my gosh guys.

Joe Hill.

What can I say about Joe Hill?

Joe Hill is flawless. I heard he writes horror books..in Japan. One time he punched me in the feels and made me even more weary of Christmas. It was aaawwesome.

Anyone that knows me knows how much I dislike all the Christmas hullabaloo. I don’t hate Christmas, don’t look at me like that, I love Christmas. I love unwrapping presents and tamales, drinking Doña Mari’s chocolate, watching Jack Skelington take over Christmas. I love it. However, I don’t care for Christmas music (except for It’s Cold Outside even if that song isn’t about Christmas, I will sing a one-woman duet at any given time and no one can stop me)or superfluous decorations. NOS4A2 just further cemented my animosity of it all. Finishing this book made me glad it’s just an excellent work of fiction and that Christmasland doesn’t actually exist. Because if it did, we’d all be screwed.

First things first, Victoria McQueen is a all sorts of messed up. Is it because she comes from a broken home? Is it maybe the strained relationship with her mother? Or the almost non-existent relationship with her father? Maybe it’s the psychic bridge-building ability that’s zapped a little of her sanity away? Who knows! As messed up as she is she’s not a bad person. You know how sometimes people are messed up and they do messed (sheesh I’m going to have invest in a thesaurus) up things to make themselves feel better? Victoria doesn’t. She kind of accepts the fact that she’s not “normal” and runs with it. It’s definitely not healthy run and ends up hurting the people that love her. McQueen’s levels of self-hatred rival that of a Gillian Flynn novel or an episode of Supernatural. Deep down she loves her son, her husband, she even loves her parents but can’t accept that those people love her back. It’s sad. I often found myself wanting to grab her by the shoulders and shake her while kindly (but forcibly) telling her that she can let herself be loved but most importantly she’s worth their love.

Charlie Manx is a terrifying villain. Not because he’s super scary or because he’s violent but because he takes kids. Charlie Manx and his Wraith are something straight out of my nightmares. As a birth giver there is absolutely nothing more terrifying than the thought of having my spawn taken from me and Vick goes through that. Perhaps that’s what makes this book so scary for me. I hated this guy. I hated him because he defended his actions with the simple logic that he was doing these kids a favor by driving them to Christmasland. A land where they would never die and always be happy. He doesn’t physically hurt the kids but he does change them into these remorseless shadows of themselves. His dimwitted henchman the Gas Mask Man is another terrifying antagonist. Sometimes I would find myself feeling bad for the guy but then I realized that he’s a rapist and a murderer and all those feelings would fly out the window.

I give this book 5 Tacos out of the Taco Scale of Awesome. Mr. Hill only solidified my weariness of all things Christmasy and gas masks. (Are you my mummy?) The ending was perfect. It wasn’t a happily ever after for everyone, but it felt right. It satisfied me like a snickers bar at 3 pm. If you want to get a good scare before the holidays I suggest you read it. Just not at night before bed.

Until next time. Mon, over and out.