Reviews - Mirdzums | The StoryGraph

15.4k reviews for:

Mirdzums

Stephen King

4.21 AVERAGE

darren_caputo's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad tense medium-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

nikimariethur's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this book. I started reading it but then switched to listening to it, so I could finish it for bookclub. I’ll likely go back and re read the last 5 chapters where all the action takes place because it got a little muddy for me ( but that’s my fault rather than Kings).

I gave it 4 stars (really 4.5) because for me it wasn’t mind blowingly amazing. However, King did his thing like always. The character building of Jack was great, especially as we got to know him on a deeper level. You can see him gradually going crazy so when he finally loses himself to the house it felt complete.

Loved the foreshadowing throughout the book. And the Fake out with Hallorann at the end . Was literally screaming, OMG nooooooooo! When he was in the shed. I thought it was gonna be the biggest plot twist of all time.

I loved how King used foreshadowing throughout the whole book. In more obvious ways like the boiler. But one of my favorite ways was with Hallorann himself. He foreshadowed his death and I was dreadddding it. That’s how invested I was in him (unlike Jack). But King is such a great writer that he gave himself a loophole, that I completely missed until the end. Hallorann said his premonitions didn’t always come true. It was brilliant when I looked back on it, because instead of feeling duped or feeling it was a plot hole, it was really sneaky foreshadowing and that kept me on the edge.

Biggest call out was Jack himself. I wished I actually liked him in the beginning. His downfall would have felt more emotional and devastating. Even when he gained consciousness for those few seconds, it would have been heartbreaking. But instead, I was just rooting for him to lose it. King was great at bringing out what was already inside him, exacerbating it, and using it as his downfall. It was great writing. But as a reader I was never connected enough to him to care. I also felt like Wendy’s character was flat as well. I’m not sure if my view of her was affected by Jack, and maybe that was intentional. But I wasn’t really rooting for her, I was rooting for her son.

I cared about Danny and Hallorann though. Halloranns name took me out of the book at times I’ll admit. I’m 32, but hearing “Dick, please come! Please Dick, I need you!” Was taking me out…. Because we’ve all been there amirite? Jokes aside, Dick really did save the day. (Ok, NOW I’m done with my jokes).

Great read! Shout out Katie for hyping it up and it living up to expectations!

cassidybone's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow. I’m not even entirely sure where to begin with this one except to say that I think I need to read more Stephen King novels! As someone who’s scared of literally anything in a movie, reading horror was a totally different experience and I really enjoyed it.

King creates such a vivid and unsettling atmosphere, making the vast, empty Overlook hotel feel claustrophobic with ghosts and past horrors. I loved the story of Jack’s descent into madness and how well King made it feel like I was also going crazy reading this. The use of varied, unreliable narration and asides and the general air of ambiguity made it hard to read, but also punctuated the madness of the hotel and the Torrance family. I loved how psychological it all was and am very excited to discuss this one with the Swiftie Stories book club!!