Reviews

Needful Things by Stephen King

djray8's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.75

christinawelc's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

maggie_gaca's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dkammy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

linari's review against another edition

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5.0

“Abracadabra, you lying fuck. ”

Honestly, I know I say this a lot, but this might be my favorite Stephen King book. Needful Things is a store that has opened up in the small town of Castle Rock. The store is owned by Leland Gaunt.

As the book progresses, people in the town find that the thing that they most want can be bought at this store for cheap. But, the caveat is that they have to play a little “prank”. These “pranks” are not pranks at all. Rather, they’re a series of events that triggers another horrifying and deadly series of events. Alan Pangborn, Castle Rocks Sheriff knows that something is happening but only realizes what it is when it’s too late.

This book is very well written, and extremely entertaining. It keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next, and how it’s all going to tie in.

Don’t sell your soul to the devil.

thejesstastic's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

doods's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense slow-paced

3.25

shanajade's review against another edition

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4.0

This was so good. It makes me want to revisit King's work and see what else I missed along the way. If you enjoyed this I recommend checking out Small Favors by  Erin Craig, it has similar vibes. 

daisy2134's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

georgiana03's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Stephen King did it again!

I do need to acknowledge  the talent of this man and how accurate he can describe a grotesque moment. “Needful things”unveiled a new world to me, one where spiritualism, the evil, the weaknesses of man, even capitalism included, all clashed.

I entered into Castle Rock just like any foreigner would, unknowingly, and then learned something about every citizen, almost like Mr Gaunt did (of course, without having an agenda). Some were strange, some were kind, some were stereotypical (the catholics, the baptists, the sheriff). However, each held their own surprises.

Alan was my favourite character and the one most developed as well. He had a good story and I liked his way of thinking and reacting. Polly might be my favourite female character, but through the end I got a bit indifferent with her.

It wasn’t a 5 because I really think that it could have been 100 pages shorter at least. I would have liked to know more about Alan and to get his side rather than seeing all the side characters having the predictable finale. I was very excited and into it until the 500 pages mark, then it got boring. The finale, maybe I was expecting a more of a clash and felt rushed.

Still, it is a great work and the attention to detail, describing each character and creating their own picture helped me to immerse into their small town. Really recommend it!