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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
I love the concept of this book, though it started out a little slow for my taste (yes, slow even for a King book). I loved reading about all the people who get paired against each other, but I sometimes felt like people were introduced just to get killed.
Overall, great book!
Overall, great book!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Welcome to Castle Rock, a small town where people drink coffee and talk about each other behind their hands. A small town with small town problems, but when a new Proprietor comes to town, selling not only wants, but needs, for a cheap price and a cheap trick will those problems stay small? How much will it cost the city of Castle Rock before they realize that not all that glitters is gold?
This was a thrilling novel with my favorite 'Devil comes to town' theme, an eye-catching and interest holding prologue and gripping, relatable characters because after all, who can say no to the things they need?
This was a thrilling novel with my favorite 'Devil comes to town' theme, an eye-catching and interest holding prologue and gripping, relatable characters because after all, who can say no to the things they need?
This book is a slow roll down a steep hill and it kicked me right in the fuckin teeth
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to enjoy this one but it ended up being a sort of Salem's Lot-Lite to me.
King re-treads the Peyton-Place-with-a-twist idea but without the nuanced characters or a consistent tone; Needful Things is all over the shop.
The setup intrigues but quickly loses its way, many of the characters feel like carbon copies of each other (maybe this was the point but if so it suffers from this more than anything) and so many of the chapters repeat the same story beats to the point where most of the book feels like filler. This could easily have been half the length without sacrificing anything from the main or subplots.
It's another brilliant moment of insight on King's part: a tempting devil surrogate as the threat rather than vampires, something akin to 'Master and Margherita' with a cynical postmodern pitch (given the town's descent into chaos over materialism gone awry). However, the execution is painfully obvious and the message is delivered at the expense of a solidly paced story. It's a frustrating place to be as a reader when you're given all the details only to be kept waiting for the protagonists to play catch up, all suspense is drained away.
The ending of a book does not necessarily find the characters satisfied, so long as the reader is satisfied. Sorry to say I was left disappointed with this one.
Stephen King is a fantastic writer, there's no doubt about that; 11/22/63, The Dark Tower series and Skeleton Crew are just a few of his works that I've greatly enjoyed. It just turns out that Needful Things wasn't for me, I'm still very much looking forward to reading The Shining soon.
King re-treads the Peyton-Place-with-a-twist idea but without the nuanced characters or a consistent tone; Needful Things is all over the shop.
The setup intrigues but quickly loses its way, many of the characters feel like carbon copies of each other (maybe this was the point but if so it suffers from this more than anything) and so many of the chapters repeat the same story beats to the point where most of the book feels like filler. This could easily have been half the length without sacrificing anything from the main or subplots.
It's another brilliant moment of insight on King's part: a tempting devil surrogate as the threat rather than vampires, something akin to 'Master and Margherita' with a cynical postmodern pitch (given the town's descent into chaos over materialism gone awry). However, the execution is painfully obvious and the message is delivered at the expense of a solidly paced story. It's a frustrating place to be as a reader when you're given all the details only to be kept waiting for the protagonists to play catch up, all suspense is drained away.
The ending of a book does not necessarily find the characters satisfied, so long as the reader is satisfied. Sorry to say I was left disappointed with this one.
Stephen King is a fantastic writer, there's no doubt about that; 11/22/63, The Dark Tower series and Skeleton Crew are just a few of his works that I've greatly enjoyed. It just turns out that Needful Things wasn't for me, I'm still very much looking forward to reading The Shining soon.
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes