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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book with its following of one character from childhood, to older man. The relationship between him, his family, and the preacher... that made the story. The sad events that led the preacher Charles to stray from God's word, turned him into a savior (of sorts) to the main character Jamie, but made his heart grow cold for God and mankind. His experiments brings the action and the main character is forced to play along. This is a cool book to read on a plane or just as a time passer. Don't expect amazing, but expect entertaining. Definitely not one of Stephen King's best, but much better than his recent offerings. And it's pre 2016, so no TDS... excellent. 4.2/5
Definitely a slow burn, but I think it was worth it.
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
Interesting, but not engrossing. This is one of King's average books, not one of his good ones.
challenging
reflective
tense
3.5 stars, rounded down. This was enjoyable. Especially the “twist”. It just felt like it took too long to get there.
Revival is a surprise. We do forget that though Stephen King is a horror writer, he is also a writer. He's a storyteller. When he doesn't write horror, he can still build a world around a life and people that life with interesting characters whom you care about.
Much of Revival isn't a horror book at all. And, having deliberately not read anything about it beforehand, there were huge long stretches when I thought maybe I was just reading the life and times of Jamie Morton and one of the more realistic depictions I've ever read about band life on the road. And for myself, that was fine.
I can't help but think that my lack of preconception and then willingness to go where the book took me, helped me to appreciate the story being told. Further, it became that much more satisfying when, late in the story, elements of the supernatural are brought in and you realize that all along the way you've been getting clues that foreshadowed what was to come.
There have been however, plenty of times when I have thought, as much as I love Stephen King (and I do), he's gotten so big no one can edit him. Like, if he was a young, unknown writer somebody would have said "Yo, cut this. Get to the chase." ([b:The Tommyknockers|11589|The Tommyknockers|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418027200s/11589.jpg|150226], I'm looking at you.) And I remember King himself, talking about how at some point it felt like every short story wanted to become a novel and every novel wanted to become an eight hundred page opus.
That didn't feel like the case here. The point of the story here is Jamie's life. A lot of him exists before we get to the crux of the story. He's been through a real life and we've been through it with him. It makes it that much more powerful than, when later, this man with some good and some bad, some dross and some gold, is then forced to stare into the mouth of a Lovecraftian hell. If anything, I was a little surprised, though I shouldn't have been, that King, on the home stretch himself here, wouldn't feel compelled to draw a rosier picture of what comes after we shuffle off this mortal coil.
But he doesn't. King hasn't lightened up one bit. And even for this man who is our foremost horror-master, this still feels like a very bleak ending. Of course, King's age could be why the ending is so despairing. "Old age," went the quote at the beginning of [b:Insomnia|231603|Insomnia|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338387812s/231603.jpg|1590722], "is an island, surrounded by death." And if Revival has anything to say about it, death is not the worse thing we have to face. Not by a long shot.
Much of Revival isn't a horror book at all. And, having deliberately not read anything about it beforehand, there were huge long stretches when I thought maybe I was just reading the life and times of Jamie Morton and one of the more realistic depictions I've ever read about band life on the road. And for myself, that was fine.
I can't help but think that my lack of preconception and then willingness to go where the book took me, helped me to appreciate the story being told. Further, it became that much more satisfying when, late in the story, elements of the supernatural are brought in and you realize that all along the way you've been getting clues that foreshadowed what was to come.
There have been however, plenty of times when I have thought, as much as I love Stephen King (and I do), he's gotten so big no one can edit him. Like, if he was a young, unknown writer somebody would have said "Yo, cut this. Get to the chase." ([b:The Tommyknockers|11589|The Tommyknockers|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418027200s/11589.jpg|150226], I'm looking at you.) And I remember King himself, talking about how at some point it felt like every short story wanted to become a novel and every novel wanted to become an eight hundred page opus.
That didn't feel like the case here. The point of the story here is Jamie's life. A lot of him exists before we get to the crux of the story. He's been through a real life and we've been through it with him. It makes it that much more powerful than, when later, this man with some good and some bad, some dross and some gold, is then forced to stare into the mouth of a Lovecraftian hell. If anything, I was a little surprised, though I shouldn't have been, that King, on the home stretch himself here, wouldn't feel compelled to draw a rosier picture of what comes after we shuffle off this mortal coil.
But he doesn't. King hasn't lightened up one bit. And even for this man who is our foremost horror-master, this still feels like a very bleak ending. Of course, King's age could be why the ending is so despairing. "Old age," went the quote at the beginning of [b:Insomnia|231603|Insomnia|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338387812s/231603.jpg|1590722], "is an island, surrounded by death." And if Revival has anything to say about it, death is not the worse thing we have to face. Not by a long shot.
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No