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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Another "epic-sized" work with a worthy topic largely announced but unrealized. The Kings' take on domestic violence, the psyches of men (and even police shootings) is mostly a series of claims of single-issue characters with one or two counter-claims that thereby call the debate done, all with an apocalyptic "disease" scenario to reinforce the point. The sprawl, instead of a mature examination of these issues (or others more lightly touched upon--the mystery of the illness, its emissary, the fable), is more just of the actions of a grand library of characters as they pit themselves against one another as we have seen in several prior books (The Stand, Under the Dome, etc.). In this sense, the novel is an enjoyable pastime read (though large), but leaves us little memorable. The best sections, for me, are in the broken footing of the marriage between our protagonists, an ill health that is never quite starkly defined--an appreciated note of realism.
I am having a hard time describing why I didn't like this book. I think it was a lot of little things. I hate the women vs men, men cause all problems theme. The switch between first and last names all the time, I had a hard time keeping up with who was who, especially in action scenes. I hated a lot of the characters, especially the men which was the point I suppose. I'm not saying that they don't exist, but the majority of the book seems to follow them. I'm glad it's finally over.
En mi opinión, los personajes mujeres no son 'mujeres'. Todos los personajes son un reflejo de Frank Geary desde distintos ángulos, incluidas las mujeres. Creo firmemente que si el libro lo hubiese escrito Stephen King con su mujer o su hija, hubiese resultado distinto.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a Stephen King book, so automatically gets a three-star rating. Unfortunately it didn't rise from here for me. I love a good old-fashioned positive/negative list!
Positive
- The idea behind the novel is fantastic! What would happen if every woman fell asleep and men had to cope? (Not well if this book is anything to go by). I love this sort of 'end of days' style concept ([b:The Stand|149267|The Stand (Complete and Uncut)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269], [b:Nod|16044493|Nod|Adrian Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1351786251s/16044493.jpg|21822383], [b:High-Rise|12331767|High-Rise|J.G. Ballard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358752559s/12331767.jpg|2270643], [b:The Day of the Triffids|530965|The Day of the Triffids|John Wyndham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320530145s/530965.jpg|188517], etc!) so grabbed the chance to read this.
- Character development for most was superb - some people really shone through.
- The ending was a mixture of happy and sad - I love how it reflects reality more than this 'happily ever after' nonsense.
Negative
- There was no snap, no crackle nor any pop! This is hopelessly vague, so let me try to explain what I mean.
- The story never gained momentum; each development simply slid into view and I rarely found myself surprised.
- Evie's character didn't develop as much as I wanted - this may have been Stephen & Owen's intention but I wanted to know who she was, WHAT she was and where she came from.
In conclusion, if you're a fan of Stephens - go for it! Just don't make it your first ever SK experience (The Shining, The Stand, The Dark Tower, etc.)
Positive
- The idea behind the novel is fantastic! What would happen if every woman fell asleep and men had to cope? (Not well if this book is anything to go by). I love this sort of 'end of days' style concept ([b:The Stand|149267|The Stand (Complete and Uncut)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269], [b:Nod|16044493|Nod|Adrian Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1351786251s/16044493.jpg|21822383], [b:High-Rise|12331767|High-Rise|J.G. Ballard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358752559s/12331767.jpg|2270643], [b:The Day of the Triffids|530965|The Day of the Triffids|John Wyndham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320530145s/530965.jpg|188517], etc!) so grabbed the chance to read this.
- Character development for most was superb - some people really shone through.
- The ending was a mixture of happy and sad - I love how it reflects reality more than this 'happily ever after' nonsense.
Negative
- There was no snap, no crackle nor any pop! This is hopelessly vague, so let me try to explain what I mean.
- The story never gained momentum; each development simply slid into view and I rarely found myself surprised.
- Evie's character didn't develop as much as I wanted - this may have been Stephen & Owen's intention but I wanted to know who she was, WHAT she was and where she came from.
In conclusion, if you're a fan of Stephens - go for it! Just don't make it your first ever SK experience (The Shining, The Stand, The Dark Tower, etc.)
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
I wish you could give half stars. It’s more like 4.5. I’m not going to talk specifics.
It starts horribly slow. It definitely takes awhile to get going. There are a few points where I thought it was written as a TV show, not that I thought it should be a TV show but that I was reading an episode of a TV show. Listening to the interview at the end was interesting, loved it! It probably will make a good miniseries due to pop references and multitude of well developed characters.
I liked the chapters within chapters because for awhile there is a lot of information and names and different storylines coming at you. It helped to keep thoughts & storylines organized especially when there were new characters added or similar names. Occasionally I’m multitasking so it was nice to come back and easily be able to find my place by hitting the back button on my audible APP until I found the storyline I was listening to last.
The half point reduction was for the preachiness at points. Only a half point because there are only a few points where I was taken out of this fictional story by current real world political issues and they aren’t the only current events or pop culture references in the book.
It starts horribly slow. It definitely takes awhile to get going. There are a few points where I thought it was written as a TV show, not that I thought it should be a TV show but that I was reading an episode of a TV show. Listening to the interview at the end was interesting, loved it! It probably will make a good miniseries due to pop references and multitude of well developed characters.
I liked the chapters within chapters because for awhile there is a lot of information and names and different storylines coming at you. It helped to keep thoughts & storylines organized especially when there were new characters added or similar names. Occasionally I’m multitasking so it was nice to come back and easily be able to find my place by hitting the back button on my audible APP until I found the storyline I was listening to last.
The half point reduction was for the preachiness at points. Only a half point because there are only a few points where I was taken out of this fictional story by current real world political issues and they aren’t the only current events or pop culture references in the book.
Wow. This book was one hell of a ride. I’ve never read a book by Stephen King before or for that fact Owen King either but wow this book blew me away. I absolutely loved it. I loved how long it was, it made me feel like I was with this extremely large cast of characters for such a long time and I loved how it only spanned 5 days as the story was so rich and in depth. This book really made me think and question what our world could be like if this kind of thing were to happen and I think this book portrayed this perfectly. It broke my heart in places so many people died and so many characters I’d fallen in love with were killed. I also think the fact that after the Aurora crisis was over and the women came back that the world wasn’t all happy and not everyone got their happy endings was so refreshingly realistic. I felt sorry for Clint in the end that he didn’t get his happy ending because I honestly thought he deserved it. This book is something I will be thinking about for a long time. I can’t express how much I loved it. Thank you Stephen King and Owen King for writing this story.
I really wanted to like this book. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors and I have yet to read a book I didn't enjoy of his. It was an okay read. The pace was all right. I just felt like the meaning behind the story was rushed at the end. I don't mind authors using their platforms to shade their views. I am all for it but for me this one just didn't hit the mark. It seemed like it was added in as an after thought.