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adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
At this point I feel like I've only read works that are not typical Steven King, but this joins them as a fun, engaging read. I love a good time travel novel and I appreciate that King uses it to indulge that classic time travel fantasy: "What if I could change the past to save the future?" He uses the length to steep his story in the past, giving it shades of historical fiction that are also delightful. Definitely recommend; the pages will fly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Multiple depictions of domestic abuse and alcoholism. Can be violent at parts since it is somewhat about violent men.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
Rating: B
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Terminal illness, Car accident
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Car accident
challenging
mysterious
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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I would rate this 3.5/5 stars.
I’ve never been able to find myself wanting to read Stephen King, and after a few attempts when I was younger to start one of his novels, I still couldn’t and so until this book I have never finished a Stephen King. I persevered through this one because it had been lent to me by a friend with a good review and I had watched the tv series based on it a few years ago.
The start of this novel was very slow and confused me in a few points (but I think that was intentional as our main character – Jake Epping – was also pretty confused at the same time). But because not much was happening, I kept putting the book down, distracted to do something else and really having to force myself to pick it back up. Once I managed to get to part 2, I found that I was much more interested in the story and the plot line and it wasn’t such a chore to make the time to read it. I then had a difficult time to put the book down, and most nights I was only putting it down because I was falling asleep in the middle of a sentence! I read the last quarter of the book in a day, because I just wanted to know what was going to happen and whether he was going to be able to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Overall, I found the concept very interesting and not just the time travel. I found the concept of the past not wanting to be changed and actively trying to stop someone from changing it interesting, and sometimes it was quite comical the amount of things that went wrong when Jake was trying to change the past. I did, however, find the ending very disappointing. It felt like it was starting to be set up for a different ending and then at the last minute the author decided to change it completely. It just didn’t seem to fit with the set up of the last chapter or so, but I can see why it was done and that the ending that was being set up wouldn’t work in terms of not changing the past.
A very interesting read, but with a disappointing ending, but I would still recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse