Reviews - Billy Summers | The StoryGraph

5k reviews for:

Billy Summers

Stephen King

4.04 AVERAGE

emmajar199's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

jmonty94's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

rosierivets's review against another edition

3.0

Some of my favorite Stephen King books are the non-horror ones. This felt like "detective" (assassin) noir and I really enjoyed it. Tried the audio for a bit and wasn't crazy about it, but enjoyed the road trip/unlikely friendship parts a bunch, too. Does have some trigger-y parts

oogieboogie98's review against another edition

2.0

So boring!! It took me forever to finish. This book meandered all over. Not believable or interesting in any way. 2 stars is generous.

bsparks2112's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

At this point, saying that I enjoyed a Stephen King book is stating something very obvious; it bears emphasizing how consistent his recent works have been, though. This one is no exception. I felt that this had some unique qualities, compared to what readers usually expect from his work - it fits more closely with the recent crime thrillers he has put out, as opposed to his more supernatural horror work. Even then, it has some different and unpredictable structural tricks that took me by surprise, and not in a bad way; the first hundred pages or so basically could work as a standalone novella with a beginning, middle, and end, with the remainder of the book suddenly introducing new characters and situations and veering off in a surprising new direction. The book-within-a-book element (the protagonist is, after a fashion, something of a writer - keeping with Kingian tradition) seemed like it might end up being a gimmick but was pretty well-executed. The character work is as vivid and convincing as to be expected, and other than some moments where things get awfully tropey with regard to a few plot developments toward the end, it has some genuinely surprising and satisfying twists and turns. This ended up being a really affecting and well-executed thriller.

queencluckersiii's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I knew from page 1 that I was going to like this. Billy was such a complicated character, every now I then I would pause to just work out his thought process to my cat. My cat (Dippshit) is my book pal. It amazed me that throughout the whole thing it seems like Billy doesn't really change. That's not a complaint, it was so well done, the way the story moves on, and it draws you along without character growth.
Can we also talk about some of the parallels between John Capps busting down the door to the Funhouse vs Dana & Billy in Nick's mancave? The whole Funhouse scene was perfection for me and I kept going back to reread it.
Anyways, I'm a sucker for a good anti-hero and that's exactly what Billy is. I'm just a little disappointed that Nick survived. I know he was important for the plot and all, but still.