Reviews tagging 'Classism'

11/22/63 by Stephen King

8 reviews

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and felt it was a perfect balance of suspense, soft/mild horror, historical fiction and romance. I really quickly fell into a comfort with the characters and found them relatable, as well as enjoying the plot unfolding alongside the person-driven stories. The ending ripped me up and had me wishing for many versions with alternate realities. 

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dark informative mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As always, King tells a great story, with a complex plot and interesting characters. He crafts the time travel well, usually a difficult task to keep realistic within the parameters of the tale. His writing is clear and direct, not overblown. 

King’s in-depth research resulted in details that bring the past to life - TV shows, advertisements, hair products, clothing styles, food. The cursing didn’t seem in keeping, though. My parents were the same generation as Jake, the protagonist and I don’t think middle class people would have cursed; they certainly wouldn’t have used the more vulgar words. (I’m not against cursing at all, but I don’t think it fits with the characters.)

Unfortunately, the book is bloated. It would have been better if it were about a third shorter. Also, as with all stories with annoying characters, I just wanted to shake Jake and tell him to get on with it. 

I’m glad I read it and I think the story and the details are good but it was just way too long. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

To be honest if this wasn't written by Stephen King it would have been one of my rare DNFs.
But I kept going because hos books so often start slow building a base for the action, this was the first of his books I finished still thinking it was boring.

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

Stephen King is most known for his horror writing and, like many readers, because I don't tend to gravitate to that genre so I have always automaticallg dismissed reading Stephen King. Which I now feel is a mistake because he am incrediblely good author. This was a good introduction for me to Stephen King as this is not a horror story, but more of a speculative fiction/time travel story. I really enjoyed it. I found the time travel mechanic quite confusing as reading it - it gets explained at the end, but maybe that's the point because time travel is theoretically confusing. If you like these types of themes then you may well enjoy this book. I do think it's a bit long and meandering sometimes though,  but never felt particularly like it dragged. I'd definitely consider reading more (non horror) Stephen King. 

I edited my rating to 5* a few months after finishing because I heard someone talk about it and remembered how great this book was, so I feel that is worthy of a 5* rating. Few books can evoke that kind of reaction from me.

Also check the content warnings  - there are a few.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

It wavers between being hard to put down and hard to keep reading often enough to feel like I'm getting whiplash, and the time traveling aspect could have been fleshed out a LOT more. Not his best but not his worst.

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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