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kiti227's review against another edition
4.0
Basic solid King story.
Love the story telling jumps.
Nice characters, nothing fancy. Feels like a story told amongst ones own friendly colleagues.
The murderous car story is nothing new from King, it's a solid read, but nothing overwhelming. Some very good horror elements but they didn't really go anywhere.
Love the story telling jumps.
Nice characters, nothing fancy. Feels like a story told amongst ones own friendly colleagues.
The murderous car story is nothing new from King, it's a solid read, but nothing overwhelming. Some very good horror elements but they didn't really go anywhere.
tobin_elliott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Well, this was interesting. In my re-read of King, this was one that I was definitely not looking forward to. I remember being quite frustrated with this novel on two fronts.
The first was, why is this all happening? What's up with that car?
The second, quite closely tied to the first was, I know this is related to the Dark Tower, it has to be, because it reminds me sort of the car the Low Men drove in HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, so it has to be right?
Nope.
This time, I went in with a different frame of mind, and just kind of let the story happen, and I loved the hell out of it. It's King just spinning a fascinating yarn that builds and builds and, at least to me, has a satisfying conclusion, which was the third complaint I had the first time around.
King builds a mystery, and doesn't offer a lot of answers, and I'm okay with that now.
Maybe getting older has taught me that life rarely offers up the answers we're constantly seeking. Sometimes, we just have to enjoy the ride...even if it's a ride in an otherworldly Buick 8.
The first was, why is this all happening? What's up with that car?
The second, quite closely tied to the first was, I know this is related to the Dark Tower, it has to be, because it reminds me sort of the car the Low Men drove in HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, so it has to be right?
Nope.
This time, I went in with a different frame of mind, and just kind of let the story happen, and I loved the hell out of it. It's King just spinning a fascinating yarn that builds and builds and, at least to me, has a satisfying conclusion, which was the third complaint I had the first time around.
King builds a mystery, and doesn't offer a lot of answers, and I'm okay with that now.
Maybe getting older has taught me that life rarely offers up the answers we're constantly seeking. Sometimes, we just have to enjoy the ride...even if it's a ride in an otherworldly Buick 8.
aralizca's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
3.0
doods's review against another edition
2.0
I mean what is there to say. A young man wants to find out what happened to his police officer dad. What follows is a tale about an out of this world car and none of its really all that interesting. Its strange in a way I like but thats its main saving grace for me. Kings writing is classically well done and this is no different the premise is just a bit to out there for me
ollie_gore's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jenhurst's review against another edition
1.0
This was really not good. I was not interested in this book at all and I’m not the biggest king fan to begin with. I only read this since it’s connected to The Dark Tower series and I really wish I hadn’t read it
noshoes94's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
aelius_'s review against another edition
3.0
This was my first paperback book that i have finished in 2022. Upon reading finishing this book, i have alot to talk about. Firstly, is about the standard set for Stephen King. Stephen King is a renowned author for many of his horrifying works, it has always been a marking for many bestselling books to be on par with his standard.
Anti-Spoiler summary of my reflection:
This book is recommend for people who want to try out something new, but it's not going to be filled with many WOWs and OMGs so don't keep your hopes high, just the regular, with a sub-par slope and a new writing style. It's good if you can embrace the fact that most of the plot is really detailed with the expansive vocabulary, but that is all in the middle honestly.
Now moving on to explaining why (SPOILERS)
On that current note, i would say this book would be sub par of his works when compared with his other books, this story is by far unique, because it is told in a flashback schematic with the present back and forth, it is literally one of the many books i read that does this, which for a start, is a spark of excellence. But sorry to say, this writing style does not do well for stories that deal with horror, but Stephen King has blended it by putting the age gap between the characters vividly for it to succeed, which is another spark of excellence.
Here comes the part where it goes slightly downhill, due to the fact that it's a flashback with the frequent back and forth of the present day, it is slightly forced as the dialogues would talk about the situation that have happened back in many years ago which i find it quite unnecessary as a plot. To cover it up, Stephen used the age gap with a very mindful procedure, which is a nice touch, but it feels lacking because it's the only excuse given for the story eternally till the end. It's okay to do this, but i feel like the plot must drift away half the book because it's extremely lengthy in terms of the build up of the past, and that all falls into the questions of a young boy whose father had been murdered due to his own personal mistake and for an unknown link to the man who ran him down that day. Stephen could have injected more to suffice the amount of build up and tension of a past story with more reasoning to explain. There is only one reason, and that is to fulfill a boy that has lost his father due to a car accident while being drunk, and due to the following fact that he is pitied by many of the characters in the story whilst being angsty most of the time, which is fine, because the angsty part is addressed, but it took a long while to reach there, a very long one.
However, after reading past the build-up and tension that Stephen has made along the way, it starts to get better, and the plot thickens. It's nothing like a WOW reaction, but it has its spark i guess, nothing really bizarre. But for us to go through such a wild jungle to only find that few pages at the back, it wasn't really satisfying to read through it.
I do enjoy the moral of the story, is that the past brought up is unnecessary, very, doing so may cause something worse to happen, and there is no point but to only let go and face the future onwards. Life sometimes doesn't has its answers, but theres always questions, that is the second one. Which is a really good piece but again, the scaling of the story is really slow and unnecessary, unless there was more push for the kid to do more for it.
That is all, thanks!
Anti-Spoiler summary of my reflection:
This book is recommend for people who want to try out something new, but it's not going to be filled with many WOWs and OMGs so don't keep your hopes high, just the regular, with a sub-par slope and a new writing style. It's good if you can embrace the fact that most of the plot is really detailed with the expansive vocabulary, but that is all in the middle honestly.
Now moving on to explaining why (SPOILERS)
On that current note, i would say this book would be sub par of his works when compared with his other books, this story is by far unique, because it is told in a flashback schematic with the present back and forth, it is literally one of the many books i read that does this, which for a start, is a spark of excellence. But sorry to say, this writing style does not do well for stories that deal with horror, but Stephen King has blended it by putting the age gap between the characters vividly for it to succeed, which is another spark of excellence.
Here comes the part where it goes slightly downhill, due to the fact that it's a flashback with the frequent back and forth of the present day, it is slightly forced as the dialogues would talk about the situation that have happened back in many years ago which i find it quite unnecessary as a plot. To cover it up, Stephen used the age gap with a very mindful procedure, which is a nice touch, but it feels lacking because it's the only excuse given for the story eternally till the end. It's okay to do this, but i feel like the plot must drift away half the book because it's extremely lengthy in terms of the build up of the past, and that all falls into the questions of a young boy whose father had been murdered due to his own personal mistake and for an unknown link to the man who ran him down that day. Stephen could have injected more to suffice the amount of build up and tension of a past story with more reasoning to explain. There is only one reason, and that is to fulfill a boy that has lost his father due to a car accident while being drunk, and due to the following fact that he is pitied by many of the characters in the story whilst being angsty most of the time, which is fine, because the angsty part is addressed, but it took a long while to reach there, a very long one.
However, after reading past the build-up and tension that Stephen has made along the way, it starts to get better, and the plot thickens. It's nothing like a WOW reaction, but it has its spark i guess, nothing really bizarre. But for us to go through such a wild jungle to only find that few pages at the back, it wasn't really satisfying to read through it.
I do enjoy the moral of the story, is that the past brought up is unnecessary, very, doing so may cause something worse to happen, and there is no point but to only let go and face the future onwards. Life sometimes doesn't has its answers, but theres always questions, that is the second one. Which is a really good piece but again, the scaling of the story is really slow and unnecessary, unless there was more push for the kid to do more for it.
That is all, thanks!
thebookmagpie1989's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cardboardcat's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Better than you'd think King's second 'haunted car' book would be!