Reviews

3.5 Stars

I've almost dreaded writing this review. I've definitely avoided it. Because there are a lot of things about the book that I like, or even love. But the things I dislike are kinda... complicated. And I have to ask myself if they supersede the positives? Or if the positives make up for them? And am I overlooking the things I found bothersome by giving the book a positive rating and review? Safe to say, the rating wasn't easy to choose. So I'm going to start with something I have no mixed feelings about, which is the narration.

Steven Webber did an extraordinary job of narrating this book. There are full-cast recordings that I didn't enjoy as much as I did this one. There is just so much personality to every single character. And the choices that were made in how every line is said, what emotion goes with it, which word gets emphasized, which one is louder, which one quieter... And don't even get me started on how fucking creepy and menacing the voice of It is. Seriously, the narrator and director of this audio can't be praised enough.

And now, we move on to the more complicated portion of the review. Complicated for me, at least. I'm gonna start with the positives.

I know that a few readers have said that the book is too long or too full of unnecessary details. And while I can't dispute the book being long, I didn't find it unnecessarily so. The book moves between past and present, with the main characters as seven children encountering a supernatural force, and then as six adults returning to kill the monster that they thought they killed twenty-seven years ago. They made a promise to come back if It came back, and that's what they're doing.

But before we see them reunite, we get to know them, as children. We see what they faced, how they become friends, why they're the ones to face It, and why they need to return. And this backstory covers a large portion of the book before, and after, the reunion. And it's this backstory that gives the reunion it's significance. If we didn't know these characters and what they went through, their return wouldn't have as big of an impact. And that's kind of the entire reason for the length of the book: Impact. Because every story we hear about a one-off character or a town event, it shows us how big the problem is in the town of Derry. And how powerful It is. Which, in turn, gives gravity to the task that was, and has been again, undertaken by the main characters. And I love how King makes the reader feel the enormity of the situation.

I also love the role that the town of Derry plays. Until I read the book, all I'd heard was that It was a story about an evil clown called Pennywise, and that's so not it. There's so much more it It than a dumb clown. It's genuinely frightening. And also completely disgusting, which I hadn't expected.

Now to the parts that I don't... agree with, you might say. And here the word unnecessary comes back. No, I still don't think the book was longer than it should've been. But there were parts of it that barely contributed anything to the story or the "impact". There were scenes with dialogue and descriptions that were crass and crude just for the sake of being that way. Maybe it was some method of shocking the reader. And honestly, I'd prefer atmospheric tension over a monster with its face falling off offering to give an eleven-year-old a blowjob.

Then there was a scene toward the end that crossed a line for me. It was disturbing, inappropriate and gross. And what's worse is that, if that scene has been removed entirely, not a single thing in the book would have changed.

Last but not least, the Beverly issue. Beverly is the only female MC in the book, and no one seems to be able to get over the fact that she's female. She's sexualized a lot. She's constantly described as being very beautiful—and I do mean constantly—and the inappropriate scene I mentioned above also has to do with how she's treated as a character. Something that irked me somewhat as I was listening to the book, and bothers me even more as I think back on it.

Finally, and I hate to say it because I want King to be better than this, but Beverly is a female character written by a male author who sees her as a female character rather than just one of the characters. And it kinda pissed me off.

But I don't wanna get into that. The review is long enough, so this is where I'm signing off. But before I do, I know I never ask this, but I wanna know what you thought of the book if you've read it. Or if you haven't, then how you feel about reviewing/rating a book that you have such diverging opinions toward? To what extent does good storytelling make up for something that you don't think is right? Does it at all?

arvaive's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

look. there are many problems with this book. i don't like the way the story treated bev (or any of its women, for that matter). the racist voices were annoying. the number of slurs used at times (particularly the n-word) made me feel like i was reading tarantino. The Scene, as we all know, was pretty weird and unpleasant to read as an adult. there's a lot of random filler that could have easily been cut and taken at least 100 pages off the thing. it's absolutely a book written by a man who was zoinked out of his gourd.

BUT. but. no book that can make me cry this hard can be worth any less than 4 stars.

i wasn't even particularly scared of pennywise, man– the truest horror for me in this book

comes from the last last couple of chapters, in which the losers forget each other

. that's the scariest shit in the world to me. when, in the final derry interlude,

mike ends his notes by telling the other losers, whom he can at this point barely remember, how much he loves them

, i genuinely felt sick to my stomach. this book had me sobbing for an hour after finishing it and i'm still crying a little bit even now. holy mother of god. worth every bit of discomfort in the end, even though this end has left me feeling like i'm about to throw up and/or fall to pieces any second now. i'll probably look back on this and think i'm being overdramatic, but right now that's exactly how it feels. jesus.

if i may leave you all with a quote:

You don’t have to look back to see those children; part of your mind will see them forever, live with them forever, love with them forever. They are not necessarily the best part of you, but they were once the repository of all you could become.

and remember: you can't be careful on a skateboard, friends.