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emilyada11's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Animal death
i_need_organization_skills's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
eesh25's review against another edition
4.0
It's unfortunate that creepy isn't a genre. Because it would certainly fit.
This is another one of those stories where you have to be careful what you write in a review because there are so many potential spoilers. But I can safely tell you that the main character is Mort Rainey. He is a fairly well-known author, recently divorced, and currently residing alone in a vacation house at Tashmore Lake. Mort's trying to use this time to get out of his writer's block. And he's still processing his divorce. But an unwanted guest shows up and starts to cause trouble.
The unwanted guest is John Shooter. He's adamant that one of Mort's short stories—part of a collection but originally published in a magazine—was stolen from Shooter himself. He doesn't know how Mort did it. Just that he wrote a story and, a year later, Mort published it as part of his collection.
And that's the beginning of a series of fucked up events. Neither Shooter nor Mort is entirely sane. There are a lot of stupid and frustrating decisions made. And Shooter is an individual you can't predict the actions of. Even when Mort tells him that the story was published in a magazine two years before Shooter claims to have written it, it's no use. Shooter's very sure of his own righteousness. And that makes him an adversary to be wary of.
And since this is just a novella (even though King's called it a "short story"), it doesn't take long for things to devolve into chaos. There are some shocks delivered. Mort and Shooter's characterization is great. And I enjoyed the story overall.
Though I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I've read very few of King's works, and even I know that it feels like a very King-like ending. I'm just not sure if it fits the story. And the only other issue I have is that a few moments in the book felt dragged out. Nothing major. Only that, by that point, King had already revealed to the reader what was going on. And the next few scenes felt like buffers before events started to unfold. It didn't take much away from the story, though.
Another thing to mention, King drops hints throughout the story, some deliberately obvious ones. But he still manages to make readers second-guess themselves. That was my favourite part. And I would definitely recommend this novella if you're looking for a short and creepy way to spend your evening.
This is another one of those stories where you have to be careful what you write in a review because there are so many potential spoilers. But I can safely tell you that the main character is Mort Rainey. He is a fairly well-known author, recently divorced, and currently residing alone in a vacation house at Tashmore Lake. Mort's trying to use this time to get out of his writer's block. And he's still processing his divorce. But an unwanted guest shows up and starts to cause trouble.
The unwanted guest is John Shooter. He's adamant that one of Mort's short stories—part of a collection but originally published in a magazine—was stolen from Shooter himself. He doesn't know how Mort did it. Just that he wrote a story and, a year later, Mort published it as part of his collection.
And that's the beginning of a series of fucked up events. Neither Shooter nor Mort is entirely sane. There are a lot of stupid and frustrating decisions made. And Shooter is an individual you can't predict the actions of. Even when Mort tells him that the story was published in a magazine two years before Shooter claims to have written it, it's no use. Shooter's very sure of his own righteousness. And that makes him an adversary to be wary of.
And since this is just a novella (even though King's called it a "short story"), it doesn't take long for things to devolve into chaos. There are some shocks delivered. Mort and Shooter's characterization is great. And I enjoyed the story overall.
Though I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I've read very few of King's works, and even I know that it feels like a very King-like ending. I'm just not sure if it fits the story. And the only other issue I have is that a few moments in the book felt dragged out. Nothing major. Only that, by that point, King had already revealed to the reader what was going on. And the next few scenes felt like buffers before events started to unfold. It didn't take much away from the story, though.
Another thing to mention, King drops hints throughout the story, some deliberately obvious ones. But he still manages to make readers second-guess themselves. That was my favourite part. And I would definitely recommend this novella if you're looking for a short and creepy way to spend your evening.
leeleerose93's review against another edition
5.0
I loved it. I always wanted to read this because of the movie and it lived up to my expectations.
cocoaqueenk's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book. But, since I've seen the movie, a lot of the story felt drawn out, dimming the urgency in uncovering who John Shooter was and what he wanted.
kyleg1007's review against another edition
5.0
A great King book in my opinion. I love stories like this. Kept me entertained the whole time. Really quick read that you will not regret.
bookbelle5_17's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Review of Secret Window, Secret Garden
By: Stephen King
Author Mort Rainey is living at the lake house he and his Ex-wife, Amy, bought years ago, but Mort is experiencing writer’s block due his anger toward her. A man, John Shooter, shows up accusing Mort of plagiarizing and starts to threaten him if he doesn’t admit that he stole his story.
Secret Window Secret Garden deals with the themes of divorce and plagiarizing. Mort’s marriage felt apart and because he is alone it allows his other fears to pile on and take center stage. He is accused of stealing this guy, John Shooter’s story around the time of his divorce. The story, though it was written before reflects the rage and pain Mort feels. Mort Rainey isn’t a great person, but he is a sympathetic character with him being betrayed by his wife when he didn’t expect it. He is also forced to question his actions seeing how is responsible for the failure of his marriage. A lot of writer’s, especially male writers as loving their work more than their spouse/partner and connecting more with their characters ruining their relationship. John Shooter is creepy and an unsettling character and you don’t know at first if he is justified or is he disllusional?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
bmg20's review against another edition
4.0
I read this after I read Travis Thrasher's 'Ghostwriter' because I was told that the similarities between the two are ridiculous, so I felt that I should judge this for myself. The similarities were astounding and I now refuse to read anything by Travis Thrasher.
I find Stephen King's writing to be flawless; he's got an amazing way with words. I have only read a few of his books but everything of his that I've read is amazing, including this story.
justsophi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lady_dana124's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5