Reviews

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

mainereading's review against another edition

5.0

Now I'll admit, when I heard Stephen King had come out with a sequel to 'The Shining', I was worried. 'The Shining' was fantastic and it has been so long since he wrote it that I was afraid he wouldn't be able to jump back into that world and give us a good sequel. But boy was I wrong! 'Doctor Sleep' was so good! I absolutely loved following Danny along on his journey to better his life and eventually help Abra save hers. I loved the bond between the two of them and thought it reminded me a lot of the bond danny shared with Dick Hallorann. Overall it was an amazing story, and I highly recommend it if you enjoyed 'The Shining'!

P.S. I watched the Doctor Sleep movie and in all honesty it sucked! The book was way better.

cinn48's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

rjphilander's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

jonesblachowicz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad

3.25

ambrose_7's review against another edition

4.0

Not many authors can write a sequel to a book almost 30 years after they wrote the original and pull it off. Stephen King did just that, and for me personally, wrote a book that was better then The Shining. It took me a bit to get into it, the first 200 pages were meaty and a little bit “let’s get on with it.” But after that I was hooked, the rest of the book was a page turner with some of the best characters I’ve ever read and a fantastically written storyline. Doctor Sleep has some of the best villains ever written, period. I loved all the ties into The Shining and how everything wraps up so beautifully. It was a satisfying and thrilling read. I think King done good.

remia1996's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

manji's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sandymcosta's review against another edition

3.0

Why does Stephen King do such a good job of making raging alcoholics so CHARMING? Maybe it's just the Torrence men in general. Both those men have scenes where they legitimately almost kill a woman, but you're reading it like "awwww...Dan, stahp. You silly goose."

In that vein, this novel falls into the same trap as The Shining (and other King novels) in that the men are all charming, well-rounded, three-dimensional characters who have opposing thoughts and feelings, and then women are one thing, and one thing only. It's annoying, especially when some of the female characters in this particular story have SUCH potential to be so much more than they are.

As a horror novel, definitely not as spooky as The Shining, but few things really can be, so that's hardly a unique fault.

sarahlou79's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

the_nerd_librarian's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0