| ‘Horns’ is the story of a young man who awakens one morning with horns growing out of his head. This man, Ig Perrish, is thought to have killed his girlfriend the year before. The horns seem to have a weird effect on the people he speaks to. He keeps being asked for permission from the people he talks to, to allow them to act out dark desires.First off this is a brilliant story, powerful and thought-provoking. It’s the kind of book that affects your mood and leaves you thinking about it for days after reading. There’s a lot of symbolism, unexpected twists, horrifying shocks, and even a dash of humour. I thought the way the plot unfolded was unusual. The story jumped around a bit, starting in the present and moving to the past to reveal the relationship dynamics of several characters before jumping back to the present again. This made the pacing faster at the beginning and end, with a slower paced middle that added layers to the story which then paid off later on.
All of that said, I didn’t find it to be a perfect read, and I have two main reasons for this. Firstly, I wasn’t that bothered about the characters. It felt like they had just been moulded to fit the complex plot, so they never felt totally real to me. Later in the book when a few of the twists come along I felt like the plot was trying to manipulate me into feeling something for the characters – if I’d actually liked them I wouldn’t have even noticed this. My other problem was the question of who killed Ig’s girlfriend was answered at the end of the relatively short first part of the story. I found this first part was the most gripping and entertaining part of the book, and I found my interest waning at times after this, mainly because what I felt was one of the key questions in the story was already answered. Overall this is a brilliantly plotted, modern dark fantasy thriller. I would recommend it to fans of fantasy and horror. I look forward to reading more books by this author. |
