Reviews with content warning for Stalking - 11/22/63

Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

11/22/63 by Stephen King

46 reviews

ks_words's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Insightful on life in the 1950’s-60’s, fascinating story following everything from time travel, politics and love. However, keeping in mind the main reason Jake goes back to save Kennedy is because of all Kennedy could have done for the civil rights movement, I feel those points weren’t hit up enough. There still felt like a glorification of a still heavily segregated world, and focused more on Jake’s daily journey through time instead of focusing on the severity of the task at hand. By the end of the book I am left wondering if Kennedy not being assassinated would have helped our country or not, as there are more political players who make decisions beyond the President that could have easily plunged our world into the darker timeline Jake witnessed after saving Jack (granted the argument is there that all of the bad things happened because Jake had change too much)

Content Warnings

sofiam19's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional 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

Adding “jimla!” To my regular vocabulary

Content Warnings

jennalistens's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Yes

Content Warnings

wrightndesk's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was my first Stephen King novel, and it was a doozy. I picked it up after seeing trailers for the Hulu mini series, because it sounded like a fresh take on the time travel genre. I didn't expect most of the content of the book to not be about Lee Harvey Oswald, but rather just a moving drama about a man living life in the early 60s. I liked it, but I wouldn' recommend it if you're mostly interested in the Kennedy assassination, as that really isn't the focus of the book. Despite the length of the novel, it was an engaging read that moved back and forth between cozy and tense. The characters were all very endearing. And I appreciate the nod to Bradbury, whose short story "A Sound of Thunder" clearly had an impact on the novel.

Content Warnings

joanne_nel's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

caitexcat's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous tense medium-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

Stephen King is a master of pop fiction. This 850 page book was a quick read because the story propelled me to keep reading. I did take a long break in the middle of this book though because it was just too thick to take on vacation with me- not a beach read! When I got back I struggled a little to pick up where I left off. Once I was back in the groove however, I finished the rest of the story quickly.

At first, I thought it was going to be a four-star read. The ending is what pushed it to five stars. It was just so sweet.

Content Warnings

jamieclower's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense 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: No

This book was so much more than I expected at the start... Loveable characters you are rooting for, incredible placemaking and a ticking timeline to build suspense. Lest you think this is too long (as I did), know it's slow at points but absolutely worth it.

Content Warnings

subtlewalrus's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous fast-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

Content Warnings

ggalvez's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was a very long read, but it was so absolutely worth it. Stephen King made this plot long but not once did I ever think, “where are we going with this?” It all makes sense. I’ve personally never read a Stephen King novel, but I was so interested after reading the synopsis that I just had to read it for myself. This book has history, time travel, murder (obviously), romance, mind-bending/meta/multiverse elements, and strong character development. The concept of the rabbit hole is so incredibly fascinating and only got more interesting towards the end of the book. The adventure spanning over 5 years and examining the effects that Jake’s actions had over the future were mesmerizing. I couldn’t have thought of a more terrifying future once the past was tampered with. The love story within the book was also such a wonderful, lighthearted element to have included in what could’ve been an incredibly heavy book. I love the way the story was tied up in a pretty bow. There are so many lovable characters who have such strong arcs that you almost can’t fit into a book shorter than 800 pages. It was necessary and good and I’m better for it lol

This will be the one to beat in 2025 for me. Loved it. Wish my book club could read it but it’s basically a 2 month commitment.

Content Warnings

jhbandcats's review against another edition

4.0

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.

Content Warnings

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