Reviews - Needful Things | The StoryGraph

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2.28k reviews for:

Needful Things

Stephen King

3.84 AVERAGE

snoopdott's review against another edition

4.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

pastel_princess's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

myonna's review against another edition

3.0

Mr. Gaunt is one sick son of a bitch

verrve's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jakehanson21's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

There are 3 animals deaths

This book was a roller coaster from start to finish.

madamepurpura's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very repetitive. How many times can you repite the same situation over and over. To many pages for to many characters acting the same. It has good moments and the idea of a store like this appearing is terrifying. Overall I think King reuse the same formula as IT but IT is a better book than this one, IT has a very similar plot. But the characters in here are not nearly as great as the losers from IT. Btw Joan Sampson’s The Auctioneer is such a better book. King based this story of Sampson’s book and yes he did it very Kingy haha. But still The Auctioneer it’s way better, worth to check it out.

katietran96's review against another edition

I'm a big, big, fan of Stephen King. You know I love Stephen King and his books are a respite after a long spell of books I've picked up and didn't finish. I did finish this one. HOWEVER, I had to drag my lazy butt through the majority of this book, force myself to keep reading, and also skim through a good chapter or three.

And here's why: a majority of the plot is propelled by the hate that these townspeople have for each other. Petty differences evolve into murderous vendettas after an immortal demon moves into town and opens up shop. The immortal demon's prime motivation? Boredom. He just wants to see the world burn. A girl can relate. But a girl cannot endure 600 pages of backstory of each and every person who lives in Castle Rock and the beef they have with their neighbors about problems ranging from "their dog is really loud" to "don't give me a ticket for parking in the handicap space!1!". It just felt like a drag and emotionally exhausting to read and also felt like the plot never escalated but rather just kept the same pace and momentum.

Again, love Stephen King, the man is a legend and the fourth book of his Dark Tower series is hands down the most beautiful and heart-wrenching epic I've ever read. But Needful Things does not do it for me. The solution to defeating the immortal demon is so bizarre to me and felt out-of-place with the rest of the book.