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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
At 600 pages, this is a big, chunky book that I thoroughly enjoyed. If I had to sum this up, I would say this is about a boy and his dog, going on a quest together. Charlie Reade is just a regular high school kid, who plays football and baseball. He finds his neighbor, Mr. Bowditch, injured on his back steps. Charlie calls an ambulance, but once he's back home, Charlie keeps checking in on Mr. Bowditch. Mr. Bowditch is a cranky, old man, but Charlie is taken by his dog, Radar. Radar is aging German Shepherd, who is fiercely loyal to Mr. Bowditch, but quickly takes to Charlie and his dad. Sadly, Mr. Bowditch passes away. He leaves his house and his dog to Charlie. He also leaves a cassette tape telling Charlie about what's in the shed and the strange noises coming from within the shed. Of course, Charlie has to investigate for himself, and he has to travel to this other world that Mr. Bowditch describes. I thought this was such a fun, heartwarming story, with lots of analogies to fairy tales. I didn't think this was at all scary, so if you don't typically read SK, pick this up.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Great book, but not my favorite of King’s novels to be honest. I prefer more of a thriller, mystery, or horror book with some qualities similar to real life. This one I found so far fetched that it didn’t have me turning pages in the way his books usually do. That being said, I think if you like a darker fantasy book- it might be for you. The descriptions were extremely vivid and I felt as if I was fully immersed in this other world. I can fully see it mapped out in my head due to his impeccable imagery. However, I never felt fully invested in what happened to the main character which is my biggest qualm. Good book, but not Stephen King good.
Son lectora incondicional de Stephen King y me suele encantar casi todo lo que escribe. La mayoría de sus libros de estos últimos años me han parecido geniales. Esta, no tanto. Partimos de que es una novela de casi 900 páginas. La primera parte me ha parecido maravillosa toda ella, pero a partir de un evento que ocurre aproximadamente a mitad del libro me ha empezado a aburrir y ha empezado costarme estar concentrada por el aburrimiento que me causaba. En mi opinión al libro le sobran unas 300 páginas de su segunda parte. Aún así la historia que cuenta me ha gustado y también algunos personajes.
I gave up on Thurs book about half way through. The first part about the boy befriending an old man and his dog was actually a really sweet story in itself. And the premise of the second half was really interesting. He gets given the knowledge of a secret entrance to a magical land. But this half was far far less interesting than the kind of mundane first half, which seems weird.
I was expecting it to be kind of Narnia-esque but for adults, but it really wasn't. It was all very bleak and boring, and just pages and pages of him describing the poor dog that was very ill. And if I'm being honest that was the main thing that put me off. He was doing all this travelling through the magical land to save the dog from dying, but it was heavy going and I really didn't enjoy it. And I know that's the point of storytelling, making things real etc etc but it seemed almost unnecessary.
I was expecting it to be kind of Narnia-esque but for adults, but it really wasn't. It was all very bleak and boring, and just pages and pages of him describing the poor dog that was very ill. And if I'm being honest that was the main thing that put me off. He was doing all this travelling through the magical land to save the dog from dying, but it was heavy going and I really didn't enjoy it. And I know that's the point of storytelling, making things real etc etc but it seemed almost unnecessary.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Stephen king is a great author. I loved the main character Charlie and his faithful four legged companion and I was totally invested in their journey.
I was excited to spend time with this book and just found it a really great read.
I was excited to spend time with this book and just found it a really great read.
The first half was great and I was totally sucked in. Sadly, it just kind of fizzled out slowly after