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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Highly entertaining page turner. Huge cast of characters that are full and interesting even if briefly on the page. My favorite King(s) novel since Dark Tower finished. Will be reading again shortly. I believe this is one of those stories that gets better each time you read it.
Maybe the best book I’ve read all year! Cant wait for this book to get filmatised, it’s so many complex stories that all tie together perfectly, not as dark as some of the other Stephen King books I’ve read.
Subtle "women are amazing and underappreciated" in some areas and outwardly in others. Classic King. Well written with beautiful imagery
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
I am huge King fan and have read maybe 95 percent of all he has written. However in the last decade I've found that his books haven't been so enjoyable. I hated the end of the dark tower series and Dr Sleep and Mr Mercedes totally failed to even make it onto my tbr list. This one I'm pleased to say is more of a return to his earlier style which I loved. I've never read anything by Owen King, Joe Hall yes with mixed feelings but after reading this I will be looking for Owens other work.
Ok so critically maybe this book was a little long in the middle but it didn't, for me at least, spoil the way it flowed. There are the usual mix of likeable and unlikeable characters on both sides, good and bad and I felt they were well rounded. The plot was good, though played a little extreme for the time period it covered. The LOndon Eye, really?
Definitely a great read for sure and one I would recommend.
Ok so critically maybe this book was a little long in the middle but it didn't, for me at least, spoil the way it flowed. There are the usual mix of likeable and unlikeable characters on both sides, good and bad and I felt they were well rounded. The plot was good, though played a little extreme for the time period it covered. The LOndon Eye, really?
Definitely a great read for sure and one I would recommend.
The first half is intriguing and exciting, but then it quickly steers into the "small town reacts badly to a catastrophe"-kind of novel that King can write in his sleep (notable examples include 'salem's Lot, Under the Dome, Needful Things, and so on and so forth), but it has none of the "vampire infestation" or the "this went to hell fast"-fascination of those. The Kings toy and hints occasionally into diving headfirst into unchartered territory, a mix of fantasy/magical realism/plague story, but it never fully commits to this. It has few interesting characters, the second part of the premise (where the women have gone) begins way too late, and although it has a moving ending and wrap-up, the whole book is too long and could really have used like a hundred pages less. Many of its characters don't give off much of an impression, especially the viler ones, and even if the solution to the climax is good, the book never seems to have any fun with the siege-story that it turns into after a while, even going so far as to throwing in some of the more ridiculous redneck-characters I've read in an attempt to lighten the mood and give everyone in its sprawling cast so much to do.
It's not a bad book, but it's a book you've read versions of before, and it never rises to the height of its fascinating, great ideas. It's a light fantasy-book with an ending that's a little too good to be true, and a surprisingly moving epilogue that made me feel like it was kinda worth it. Still, a disappointment. Sadly. I wish it was scarier, a real horror novel, I wish it had gone farther, I wish it... was very, very different. The way it is now, it feels like a lesser mix of better books, with a strong central project but not much else.
It's not a bad book, but it's a book you've read versions of before, and it never rises to the height of its fascinating, great ideas. It's a light fantasy-book with an ending that's a little too good to be true, and a surprisingly moving epilogue that made me feel like it was kinda worth it. Still, a disappointment. Sadly. I wish it was scarier, a real horror novel, I wish it had gone farther, I wish it... was very, very different. The way it is now, it feels like a lesser mix of better books, with a strong central project but not much else.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced