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stephaniesteen73's review against another edition
4.0
This was an epic audio book - great use of my Audible credit at nearly 48 hours in length! I loved a lot about this story- great characters, surprising twists, good narrative- but the ending had me feeling flat which earned it 4 stars.
dnandrews797's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve read two or three of Stephen King’s books in the past and have always admired his way of building suspense and creating a plot that roars along and teaches a lesson at the the end. This book was not that. The first third of the book regarding the plague “Captain Trips” was exciting and what I expect King to deliver in his books. From there things went downhill.
First let’s talk characters: A lot of times for me characters can make or break a book and I couldn’t care less about the entire cast he introduced. There are no POC characters in this book aside from the “mystical black person sent to guide the white main characters” who comes in the form of mother Abigail. Which leads to another critique: the women. All of the women in this book are treated as weak, evil, stupid or all of the above. The one exception being Frannie who receives the “righteous woman chosen by god” role with comparisons to the Virgin Mary. In other words: they’re all caricatures, not real people. The rest of the characters are also incredibly two dimensional with barely any backstory or way to connect with them.
Next there’s the pacing. The first section was a little bit slow with heavy gore descriptions, but overall was a nice little jog in the park compared to the slog through okefenoke swamp that was the exposition in the middle. It was about 700 pages of them just wandering around, describing cars, traveling and then standing around in colorado. If I had to tell you what happened in those pages I couldn’t recall because it was honestly that bland.
Another problem with this book that I found a little alarming is how frighteningly anti-intellectual it seemed at times. Scientists are demonized for imprisoning Stewart and attempting to find a cure while participating in some truly heinous acts that no self respecting scientist acquainted with the CDER or CBER would ever participate in. It’s also implied that “rational thought” can influence you towards the devil’s control and you should trust you gut before all else. I didn’t appreciate the demonization of Harold’s character over time without any other intellectual characters to act as a foil to this line of thinking.
The ending was lackluster as well and incredibly anticlimactic.
I honestly don’t know how this could be a fan favourite when there are so many other excellent King novels. It was a tremendous let down compared with Carrie, Firestarter, The Shining, Pet Semetery. But this? This was a waste of time as soon as I got to the second part.
First let’s talk characters: A lot of times for me characters can make or break a book and I couldn’t care less about the entire cast he introduced. There are no POC characters in this book aside from the “mystical black person sent to guide the white main characters” who comes in the form of mother Abigail. Which leads to another critique: the women. All of the women in this book are treated as weak, evil, stupid or all of the above. The one exception being Frannie who receives the “righteous woman chosen by god” role with comparisons to the Virgin Mary. In other words: they’re all caricatures, not real people. The rest of the characters are also incredibly two dimensional with barely any backstory or way to connect with them.
Next there’s the pacing. The first section was a little bit slow with heavy gore descriptions, but overall was a nice little jog in the park compared to the slog through okefenoke swamp that was the exposition in the middle. It was about 700 pages of them just wandering around, describing cars, traveling and then standing around in colorado. If I had to tell you what happened in those pages I couldn’t recall because it was honestly that bland.
Another problem with this book that I found a little alarming is how frighteningly anti-intellectual it seemed at times. Scientists are demonized for imprisoning Stewart and attempting to find a cure while participating in some truly heinous acts that no self respecting scientist acquainted with the CDER or CBER would ever participate in. It’s also implied that “rational thought” can influence you towards the devil’s control and you should trust you gut before all else. I didn’t appreciate the demonization of Harold’s character over time without any other intellectual characters to act as a foil to this line of thinking.
The ending was lackluster as well and incredibly anticlimactic.
I honestly don’t know how this could be a fan favourite when there are so many other excellent King novels. It was a tremendous let down compared with Carrie, Firestarter, The Shining, Pet Semetery. But this? This was a waste of time as soon as I got to the second part.
viniciusmacedo's review against another edition
5.0
Ode à Sociedade
Essa obra é para aqueles que tem vontade. Trata-se de uma demonstração de uma possível situação pré e pós um apocalipse viral. Mas muito além da diatopia, A dança da Morte mostra o que é o ser humano, em seus desejos íntimos, suas convicções morais e até mesmo o quão influenciável pela vida em comunidade é. A melhor obra de King que já li.
Essa obra é para aqueles que tem vontade. Trata-se de uma demonstração de uma possível situação pré e pós um apocalipse viral. Mas muito além da diatopia, A dança da Morte mostra o que é o ser humano, em seus desejos íntimos, suas convicções morais e até mesmo o quão influenciável pela vida em comunidade é. A melhor obra de King que já li.
nielstav's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
curiousintrovert's review against another edition
5.0
One of my all time favorites. Epic is an understatement. King creates relatable characters with humor and humanity. Even though this is a very long book there is an economy of language. You'll see.
mcfade28's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
At 1326 pages, there is no doubt this book is overly long, with meandering sections that could have been greatly condensed. And yet, it still feels like a masterpiece.
Stephen King tells the story of society after a devastating pandemic. Reading this after having lived through covid 19 is an interesting experience, and despite writing this novel in the 70s, King's depiction of the disease spreading felt all too realistic.
There are a lot of characters here, but I found I really liked 95% of them, even the villians felt well drawn.
4.75 stars for me. Despite the length, it just felt like the book never got old.
Stephen King tells the story of society after a devastating pandemic. Reading this after having lived through covid 19 is an interesting experience, and despite writing this novel in the 70s, King's depiction of the disease spreading felt all too realistic.
There are a lot of characters here, but I found I really liked 95% of them, even the villians felt well drawn.
4.75 stars for me. Despite the length, it just felt like the book never got old.
unfranchisablereadr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
5.0
I couldn’t think of any reasons to deduct points from the 5 stars. This will likely be the longest book I read all year. I really enjoyed the different perspectives and how they all converged together. SK also wove in several real life historical events & I loved seeing those used in a different narrative. If you want to read this, I recommend doing both the audiobook and ebook together. The extended version is a chonky boy and took me the better part of a month to read.
jmm's review against another edition
3.0
Why would you spend 1000 pages of world building if you have the bad guys blow themselves up in the end?
I enjoyed the first and second part, but was kind of let down by the third one. It felt like he really struggled to resolve the conflict he was building up to.
I enjoyed the first and second part, but was kind of let down by the third one. It felt like he really struggled to resolve the conflict he was building up to.
amylikestoread's review against another edition
2.0
First DNF of 2020. I made it to just about page 900 and I just couldn't force myself to make it to the end. The first 300 or so pages are 4 stars and then it goes downhill from there. I probably should've gone for the abridged version.
grahamclements's review against another edition
5.0
If ever there was an epic read, at 1325 pages, this is one. A marvelously engrossing story of survival and then good versus evil. Loved the characters. Loved the fact that two of the major characters had disabilities, with one given the role as a leader. It's the best of the three novels I have read of King's. It took me two months to read and I am going to miss reading it.