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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
This one was a King roller coaster. It started off AWESOME - incredible characters that I was really beginning to love - including some excellent child flashback stuff (a little bit of a King staple, there. Vintage King, if you will). But then the story definitely veered away from that core - not completely, but enough where it became LESS interesting, at least to me. Once the military came into it - without giving away too many plot points - I was just less engrossed in the story. Ok, from here - I'm definitely going to be mentioning at least one key spoiler - SO - if you want to be completely in the dark about the book, please stop here. If you have read it or don't care, on you go, but don't say I didn't warn you. Where was I - oh yes, a little less interesting. But then we get to Derry and we have a brief, but absolutely phenomenal IT reference. And if you love King or you love that book in particular, that was simply an incredible couple of pages. It's such a phenomenal throwback. And this one isn't even subtle - even casual fans won't miss it. I absolutely love these details - it is what makes the King universe so grand and so fulfilling as a fan. So simple, but oh so effective. I gave it an extra star just for that. And then from there until the end, I actually thought it got a lot better. Not quite as good as the beginning of the book, but definitely satisfactory. This one was actually a challenging book to read. While King does a phenomenal job explaining all the ins and outs of this crazy story to the reader, it does take a little bit of stopping and re-reading here and there to figure out, wait what just happened there? All in all, I would have loved a book just about the core group of 5 people - I really would have. So, in some ways, I felt cheated and disappointed with how it turned out. It was kind of a big character tease and kind of a waste of great characters, to me. But, by the end, it definitely came together and it was fulfilling, even though it probably wouldn't be considered one of my all time fav King books. Lastly, if you have an upset stomach, you might want to skip this one until you feel better. Chitter chitter. lol. And always follow the line. If you can see the line, always follow the line. SSDD.
Torned with this one...for the last 15 years I owned it I tried to read it pretty mutch every year, and every time it was the same. I read the first 100 padges and was into the book then it just got so confusing. Odly enough this time I tried it again and I read the entire thing...and it was not so confusing after all XD
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King get 7.4/10 stars.
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King get 7.4/10 stars.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
I read this book for the first time probably 6 years ago, after I was already obsessed with the movie since childhood. After giving it another reread, I still love it.
Did some parts drag? Sure, but given King's style, I expect it. That doesn't take away from the rest of the amazing story
Did some parts drag? Sure, but given King's style, I expect it. That doesn't take away from the rest of the amazing story
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not as bad as the internet at large wanted me to believe
Look, by around the 300 or 400 page mark I was just hoping Owen/Henry was going to be canon cause Owen kept calling Henry "beautiful" and I just imagined him as Mads Mikkelsen and Henry as a horn rimmed sexy nerd.
But this book was written around 2000ish era, that won't happen ofc but one can hope.
Anyway, that out of the way.
This book is a hot but beautiful mess.
King does what King does best, cast his spell and MAKES you get invested in his world.
BUT
Holy shit, I thought it was his debut book of more than 800 pages as a paperback cause it's a hot pile of turds.
HOWEVER
He makes you fucking cry over Duddits, get so emotionally invested in him and Roberta and the boys that you can't help but needing to finish this to the last sticky end.
I went in hoping for a horror book, went out with a new found love of people of different types and shapes.
Fuck, man, I'm a mess after this book. The reason I'm giving it two stars is simple. King goes in every direction and hasn't really got a good handle here on how to make an emotional impact hit and feel the investment paid off. He makes it work with Duddits and that hits home so hard by the end you're just crying, not being scared of the aliens, feeling for Duddits in everyway and form. Idk if that was King's goal, but I didnt really feel scared in any of this book much. More like "lol alien", but that's about it.
It feels like a giant dream, sure, but not a good one. "Saint of Bright Doors" did a better job with that and even then Chandrasekera got a better execution.
For ex, the big thing they were charging up is how they "killed" Duddits bully, but he sort of wrote the outcome as an afterthought. It wasn't a grand scene. Shocking sure, but it was over in a single sentence.
TLDR: Book made me cry and feel things, but as a "horror" book, it didn't hit any marks for me.
Also a dog is abused horribly so ye, maybe skip this book dude
Prose: It's King, he makes you care and feel things, uses your brain to make you fill in gaps, but it was also a hot crazy mess -2
Plot: Probably the saving grace and the downfall. The plot of the aliens is deducting points but the overall arching plot of the Dreamcatcher was beautiful. -2
Pace: Slow as this book
Characters: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there's a lot of suicide in this book so that's great. Ironically, the person most suicidal survives at the end which can be poetically hilarious or dumb depending on your outlook. Either way, everyone is fleshed out DEEP so +1
Vibe: Winter but small town Maine with alien fungus and BACON
Worldbuilding: Was fine, it's not a fantasy book so hard to get that much done. King does set his scene and depth wonderfully though. But as I said, it's not enough for me.
-
Either way, there's a LOT of CW for this book, so please do check them before deciding to read this book.
But if you can somehow skim over the animal abuse and death in the later chapters, it's a beautiful book about a mentally disabled person and will have you bawling your eyes out at the end if you have any empathy left in your heart
2/5
Content Warnings
HOLY SHIT CHECK THE CONTENT WARNINGS BEFORE GOING IN
This is a very well written and thought out book. In traditional King style, it lures you into a world so real that the monsters born there captivate your thoughts long after you put the book down. The character developments were great, and the story, if slow at times, keeps readers hooked. I enjoyed the read and the story, which is a hard combination to achieve in good literature. It makes me want to go to the book store and buy every King novel on the shelf.
Not bad, but the rep as King's most "bloated" and self-indulgent is deserved. The dream sequences were odd and really weren't needed. Decent story though.