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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
One of the many reasons that I keep coming back to Stephen King is because he has an incredible ability for drawing such dynamic, developed characters, dropping them into a fictional community that so closely mirrors that of our own, and then unleashing an agent of chaos to wreak havoc on everyone and everything in sight.
This book fucking delivered.
It continues to amaze me how Stephen King is able to build such fully-formed microcosms and then take the reader on a not-so-leisurely joyride all across his creation, constantly zooming in on whatever tragedy is happening to whichever character at whatever place during whatever time and then just as quickly zooming back out to someplace altogether different without losing my attention or, for that matter, losing me somewhere in the doomed town of Castle Rock.
Needful Things was one of my favorite reads of the year and easily one of my favorite works from King. It was a wild, relentless, chaotic ride and I loved every page.
This book fucking delivered.
It continues to amaze me how Stephen King is able to build such fully-formed microcosms and then take the reader on a not-so-leisurely joyride all across his creation, constantly zooming in on whatever tragedy is happening to whichever character at whatever place during whatever time and then just as quickly zooming back out to someplace altogether different without losing my attention or, for that matter, losing me somewhere in the doomed town of Castle Rock.
Needful Things was one of my favorite reads of the year and easily one of my favorite works from King. It was a wild, relentless, chaotic ride and I loved every page.
Needful Things is such an under-rated King. It's a small-town, cozy (or claustrophobic
I give this book 3.5 stars. Honestly, I wish Goodreads had that option.
I found this book extremely engaging - at first it felt a little slow, but the more I read, the more my curiosity grew. Leland Gaunt is a very intriguing and arresting villain, and the strange occurrences happening in the town were so confusing and interesting that I needed to read on. I just couldn't work out what was happening and why! And the insanity just kept mounting until it had become a complete force of nature, hammering you with action and grotesque images and genuine 'what the hell' moments.
There were some downsides though, hence my 3.5 star rating. Firstly, it was a little hard to keep up with the characters at times. There were certain main characters who were returned to fairly often, and that was fine, but there were so many 'tricks' being played, and so many small characters playing the tricks and being on the receiving end of them, that sometimes it was a little hard to keep up. Secondly, I felt the ending was a little anti-climactic. After so much action and build-up, I felt the last few scenes fell a little short of the mark for me. I think in part this was due to the fact that they were quite unrealistic - this is partly silly I know, due to the fact that there is an obvious supernatural undercurrent through the whole book. However, I think the fact that the supernatural elements was outweighed by the gritty realism of the majority of the events meant that the ending seemed a lot sillier than it probably was intended to be.
Overall however I would recommend this book. It was an exciting, engrossing read (if potentially a little too long), and was definitely worth the time.
I found this book extremely engaging - at first it felt a little slow, but the more I read, the more my curiosity grew. Leland Gaunt is a very intriguing and arresting villain, and the strange occurrences happening in the town were so confusing and interesting that I needed to read on. I just couldn't work out what was happening and why! And the insanity just kept mounting until it had become a complete force of nature, hammering you with action and grotesque images and genuine 'what the hell' moments.
There were some downsides though, hence my 3.5 star rating. Firstly, it was a little hard to keep up with the characters at times. There were certain main characters who were returned to fairly often, and that was fine, but there were so many 'tricks' being played, and so many small characters playing the tricks and being on the receiving end of them, that sometimes it was a little hard to keep up. Secondly, I felt the ending was a little anti-climactic. After so much action and build-up, I felt the last few scenes fell a little short of the mark for me. I think in part this was due to the fact that they were quite unrealistic - this is partly silly I know, due to the fact that there is an obvious supernatural undercurrent through the whole book. However, I think the fact that the supernatural elements was outweighed by the gritty realism of the majority of the events meant that the ending seemed a lot sillier than it probably was intended to be.
Overall however I would recommend this book. It was an exciting, engrossing read (if potentially a little too long), and was definitely worth the time.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Too long. Too many characters. Too much sexualizing scenes unnecessarily (I’m all for smut. I’m not for constant relation of emotion to ‘hardening nipples’, ‘testicles shrivelling’, and sexualizing children). Too much N word.
Love Castle Rock. Loved seeing where Ace Merril ended up. Loved all the Easter eggs from the Kingverse. Plenty of laugh-out-loud lines. Great characterization and relationships.
If it had been 200 pages shorter, didn’t’ over use sex, religion and racism as plot points, it could have been a 4star book.
Love Castle Rock. Loved seeing where Ace Merril ended up. Loved all the Easter eggs from the Kingverse. Plenty of laugh-out-loud lines. Great characterization and relationships.
If it had been 200 pages shorter, didn’t’ over use sex, religion and racism as plot points, it could have been a 4star book.
It was really good. I really liked it. It took a while to get into but at the halfway point, I couldn't put it down.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It builds up so well but the ending is supremely disappointing.