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booksoversecondbreakfast's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book has an amazing, well-thought out, invigorating plot, for the most part. It's so interesting, and with the exception of the slower middle half of the book, it was a real page-turner. That middle part was kind of rough though. I'm not kidding when I say this took me a few years to get through. I wanted to persevere through this book because I liked the story, but the middle part just dragged on and on, and I put it down and then picked up several times the past few years. Once I got passed the middle part, however, I was back glued to the book.
I loved that this revolved around the trope of a historian-type figuring uncovering the truth about something that happened in the past, and I liked that it actually used time travel too. Stephen King, as he always does, successfully worked horror into the story as well, and I thought it was very well done in an understated kind of way. I didn't love the ending, but it was okay, and I was just happy to find out how it ended.
This book's romance was lacking, in my opinion. The book used the 'not like other girls' and 'man teaches woman what good sex is', and I really dislike those tropes. I feel like the romance could have written so much better than it was, but it wasn't the main plot that drew me in anyways.
Overall, I enjoyed it, felt 'meh' towards some aspects of the story, and will keep the book around in my personal library. Will I read it again? Not sure, but maybe someday.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
daelight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence
quipo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use
bigolscrewup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dancing is life
5/5⭐
I feel so stupid for thinking Stephen King can't write Romance, based on the few books I've read of him before 11/22/63. It wasn't just Jake Epping who went into the past and fell in love with Sadie, I bet it's everyone who read this book. I can't believe that the idea for this book came to King in the early 70's and I'm glad he finally wrote it, four decades later. One of the most beautiful story I've ever read. I read this book in seven days and almost every one of those days, I kept thinking I'll be able to read the next chapter tomorrow and see what happens next. I don't know how I will feel tomorrow, waking up knowing there aren't any more chapters. Utterly compelling and absurdly entertaining. I read this under comment section of some YouTube video and I didn't understand it back then, but now I can. "one of my life's greatest comfort is knowing that there will always be more Stephen King books to read" I only wish this story never ended, I want to live in the world he created and never come back. I even tried to watch the show that was adapted from this book and it's just not the same.
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent
errie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
nenah_elizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
newswoman's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
aj9moon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Blood
Minor: War
cryptofauna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
it’s got very strong male energy for reasons i cannot fully place but overall i don’t have very many criticisms besides the fact i didn’t really like the ending. i appreciated the sadness of it, but it didn’t hit me quite as hard as i feel like it could have
super interesting take on time travel, i loved the characters, it felt well informed and thought out in incredible depth.
very first steven king novel also!
update from later i think about this book all the time and i really struggled to pick what rating i wanted to give this one. its got 4.75 right now but im reallly teetering on the edge of 5 stars rn
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
craigpwmoroney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Classism