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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
A great story, though not quite as horrific as King's other novels. Still had me desperate to know how it ended, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
As a young boy, Jaime looked at Reverend Jacobs with friendship and as a mentor. When Jacobs suffers a terrible tragedy, he becomes something else and soon will leave town. Many years later, Jaime, a musician and drug addict, will cross paths with the former reverend and will regret it deeply. A dark Lovecraftian tale by the modern master, this novel, coming in at 400 pages, is a pretty quick read for King fans (although it probably could still have used a little trimming).
Without question King can tell a story and I've read nearly all his books. This however was one of his weaker efforts, plodding along harmlessly for the first few hundred pages , all as set up for his hideous vision of what lies beyond the grave.
**2 Stars**
I usually really enjoy Stephen King novels. I already like mystery and horror novels, and I remember staying up late when I was about 14 just to finish Carrie because I was SO hooked. Maybe I wouldn't enjoy Carrie as much now, or in the same way, but I've been exposed to so many of King's stories, I figured I could always rely on them. So when I was bored and at the grocery store in podunk northern Michigan while camping, it seemed obvious to pick up Revival to carry me through the shitty rainstorms we were having. The only problem is, I didn't enjoy it.
The story follows the relationship between the protagonist, Jamie Morton, and the new pastor on the block Charlie Jacobs, all the way from when they first meet to one of their deaths. Jamie is just a little boy when he first meets Charlie, but he soon becomes good friends with him. Family tragedy rips Jacobs apart, and sets him on a path that Jamie happens to pop in on every decade or so. Some might say it was fate throwing them together, time after time. Jacobs becomes increasingly unhinged as the years go by, culminating in some weird, creepy shit at the very end.
That might sound really interesting to you; it did to me. But the main problem is that the plot is completely boring. A solid first quarter of the book takes place when the two first meet and goes up to and including Jacobs' family tragedy and aftereffects. That part was okay, but I kept waiting for more. It read like a memoir of Jamie's early years. I just figured maybe it had a slow start and the rest would be better. Once Jacobs left town, I thought, "This is it. Only up from here." I was wrong.
While the next 70% was still technically interesting (maybe I was even forcing myself to consider it interesting), I still kept waiting for the big moment. The part where I was so excited I didn't want to put the book down. It never happened. It just followed Jamie as he was a drug addict, then found Jacobs again, then became clean and moved on, then found Jacobs again, then moved on, then found Jacobs again, et cetera. Just the same cycle over and over again. Snoozefest. Several times I questioned why I was continuing to read this book.
The other problem is that it has almost no horror/thriller/paranormal component. I have no idea what people are thinking when they tag this book as such. For almost the entire book, I thought I was being lead to believe that Jacobs was a fraud, that everyone was healed psychologically or they were planted in the audience. That might actually be interesting (although not what I would expect from Stephen King). Then get to that last 5% and apparently he's been actually healing people the whole time?? Don't even get me started on all the random crap that went down at the very end with Mary Fay, because that was SO FORCED.
I was just very disappointed. If the paranormal component had been introduced from the beginning, and I had believed it from the beginning, maybe this would have been a better book. But this was just the memoir of a washed-up minor league rock star addicted to heroin and how he became a doormat to a crazy ex-pastor that can apparently communicate with the devil, except without all the interesting parts you would expect. Less communicating with the devil, more internet research and working in a recording studio. Like I created my "disappointing" shelf specifically for this book...
I usually really enjoy Stephen King novels. I already like mystery and horror novels, and I remember staying up late when I was about 14 just to finish Carrie because I was SO hooked. Maybe I wouldn't enjoy Carrie as much now, or in the same way, but I've been exposed to so many of King's stories, I figured I could always rely on them. So when I was bored and at the grocery store in podunk northern Michigan while camping, it seemed obvious to pick up Revival to carry me through the shitty rainstorms we were having. The only problem is, I didn't enjoy it.
The story follows the relationship between the protagonist, Jamie Morton, and the new pastor on the block Charlie Jacobs, all the way from when they first meet to one of their deaths. Jamie is just a little boy when he first meets Charlie, but he soon becomes good friends with him. Family tragedy rips Jacobs apart, and sets him on a path that Jamie happens to pop in on every decade or so. Some might say it was fate throwing them together, time after time. Jacobs becomes increasingly unhinged as the years go by, culminating in some weird, creepy shit at the very end.
That might sound really interesting to you; it did to me. But the main problem is that the plot is completely boring. A solid first quarter of the book takes place when the two first meet and goes up to and including Jacobs' family tragedy and aftereffects. That part was okay, but I kept waiting for more. It read like a memoir of Jamie's early years. I just figured maybe it had a slow start and the rest would be better. Once Jacobs left town, I thought, "This is it. Only up from here." I was wrong.
While the next 70% was still technically interesting (maybe I was even forcing myself to consider it interesting), I still kept waiting for the big moment. The part where I was so excited I didn't want to put the book down. It never happened. It just followed Jamie as he was a drug addict, then found Jacobs again, then became clean and moved on, then found Jacobs again, then moved on, then found Jacobs again, et cetera. Just the same cycle over and over again. Snoozefest. Several times I questioned why I was continuing to read this book.
The other problem is that it has almost no horror/thriller/paranormal component. I have no idea what people are thinking when they tag this book as such. For almost the entire book, I thought I was being lead to believe that Jacobs was a fraud, that everyone was healed psychologically or they were planted in the audience. That might actually be interesting (although not what I would expect from Stephen King). Then get to that last 5% and apparently he's been actually healing people the whole time?? Don't even get me started on all the random crap that went down at the very end with Mary Fay, because that was SO FORCED.
I was just very disappointed. If the paranormal component had been introduced from the beginning, and I had believed it from the beginning, maybe this would have been a better book. But this was just the memoir of a washed-up minor league rock star addicted to heroin and how he became a doormat to a crazy ex-pastor that can apparently communicate with the devil, except without all the interesting parts you would expect. Less communicating with the devil, more internet research and working in a recording studio. Like I created my "disappointing" shelf specifically for this book...
I love the intersection of horror and religion and felt it was really strong but weaned a little near the end. But overall this was a fun and captivating read and i see myself studying it in the future. a study on depictions of hell and the devil would be really interested
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes