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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
A nice end to this trilogy. The best of the three as well.
This is how the world ends…
TL;DR: A weak ending to what likely shouldn’t have been a trilogy, King and Chizmar drop the ball with what feels more like a propaganda piece.
I’m not one to belabor political points when it comes from a place of storytelling, but yeesh…it’s apparent that this was kind of just intended to either push an agenda or vent about the other side of the political aisle. It’s rough and honestly made it really unpleasant to get through. The second book had the same takes and opinions with infinitely more elegance and grace. Blech, just not a good book and honestly, really disappointing.
Characters: Gwendy’s kind of insufferable in here. I get what they were going for and it’s hard to depict what they did in a book, but it wasn’t great, felt like what I imagine a cat feels when you pet them the wrong way. Also, most of the other characters are just huge nonfactors. Meh overall.
Setting: I’m turned off by space, I just am. It also felt like a really weird ending place for the series; home and growing up to work and home to space. What the heck dude?
Story: I couldn’t get behind it. I just wasn’t motivated to care and honestly, it wasn’t that great. The whole thing dragged so dang much. The ending was actually gracefully done, but the rest of it was just painful.
Writing: Gah, I hated it, what more is there to say? It was contrived, full of flashbacks, and as I said, felt like a soapbox the entire time. Rough man.
This isn’t even close to a good book, and I won’t make it out to be. The only reason this falls anywhere away from the bottom of my least favorite books is because the ending was done decently well. It’s pretty sad that the last two chapters and epilogue are the on only things saving this from subpar mediocrity in my eyes. Oh well.
1.0 🌟
TL;DR: A weak ending to what likely shouldn’t have been a trilogy, King and Chizmar drop the ball with what feels more like a propaganda piece.
I’m not one to belabor political points when it comes from a place of storytelling, but yeesh…it’s apparent that this was kind of just intended to either push an agenda or vent about the other side of the political aisle. It’s rough and honestly made it really unpleasant to get through. The second book had the same takes and opinions with infinitely more elegance and grace. Blech, just not a good book and honestly, really disappointing.
Characters: Gwendy’s kind of insufferable in here. I get what they were going for and it’s hard to depict what they did in a book, but it wasn’t great, felt like what I imagine a cat feels when you pet them the wrong way. Also, most of the other characters are just huge nonfactors. Meh overall.
Setting: I’m turned off by space, I just am. It also felt like a really weird ending place for the series; home and growing up to work and home to space. What the heck dude?
Story: I couldn’t get behind it. I just wasn’t motivated to care and honestly, it wasn’t that great. The whole thing dragged so dang much. The ending was actually gracefully done, but the rest of it was just painful.
Writing: Gah, I hated it, what more is there to say? It was contrived, full of flashbacks, and as I said, felt like a soapbox the entire time. Rough man.
This isn’t even close to a good book, and I won’t make it out to be. The only reason this falls anywhere away from the bottom of my least favorite books is because the ending was done decently well. It’s pretty sad that the last two chapters and epilogue are the on only things saving this from subpar mediocrity in my eyes. Oh well.
1.0 🌟
This is my personal opinion of course, and I may be in the minority but... I lived during Covid 19, and the 2020 election... I don't really care to hear about it again in any form of media. Especially books.
So tired of all the books/movies/shows/media/etc making this part of their medium. It's low hanging fruit for creators, entertainers, storytellers, and the like to hit on current events while they were the "hot topic" and quite frankly it always feels lazy.
Loved the first two, don't care for this one.
Maybe it's just me, but you can certainly do better with another one of King's stories.
"Chaos is the only answer."
So tired of all the books/movies/shows/media/etc making this part of their medium. It's low hanging fruit for creators, entertainers, storytellers, and the like to hit on current events while they were the "hot topic" and quite frankly it always feels lazy.
Loved the first two, don't care for this one.
Maybe it's just me, but you can certainly do better with another one of King's stories.
"Chaos is the only answer."
The "Button Box Trilogy" is interesting because I think it works as a collective more so than on an individual level. I liked each book, but I was surprised by how emotional the final few chapters felt when I reached them. Being able to follow Gwendy throughout her life infused the overarching story with a remarkable amount of poignancy.
Final Task goes some strange places (particularly after a certain reveal), but it stays grounded (well, as grounded as one expects from a King novel) to a remarkable degree. That's part of what makes these books so unique, too; they linger on the fringes of supernatural horror while rarely taking the plunge directly. But, occasionally, there are flashes of something greater, reminding the reader of that adage us King fans are quite familiar with: "There are other worlds than these."
Final Task goes some strange places (particularly after a certain reveal), but it stays grounded (well, as grounded as one expects from a King novel) to a remarkable degree. That's part of what makes these books so unique, too; they linger on the fringes of supernatural horror while rarely taking the plunge directly. But, occasionally, there are flashes of something greater, reminding the reader of that adage us King fans are quite familiar with: "There are other worlds than these."
What intrigued me with the story was the button box more than Gwendy’s character, and in this final book, it feels more focused on her character. Honestly, I don’t think this needed to be a series, but I think the intrigue of the button box diminished with each book. I think it’s interesting to continue the story and show the progression of Gwendy aging while still being the protagonist, but I just stopped caring. I enjoyed the first book and the second book was just, fine; and this one, I just lost any desire to finish it.
I was hesitant to read this one because I just never felt the Button Box series needed more than the first book, but since I had read the second, I figured I may as well. For most of the book I thought "this is fine," and maybe some of the current events were a bit to current for me to want to read about them already, but oof, that ending. It got me. I didn't want the third book to end on a bad note for me and ruin the whole story, but it definitely didn't. I can appreciate the series as a whole now, and it was a good story all in all.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-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
As usual, loved tying this book in with the SK universe so completely. Not just Easter eggs but part of the plot.
Not a fan of the ending but rarely am but that’s just part of being a Constant Reader, isn’t it?
Not a fan of the ending but rarely am but that’s just part of being a Constant Reader, isn’t it?
3,5/5 stars. Review is coming, probably. Be patient.
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3,5 stelle su 5. Recensione in arrivo, probabilmente. Abbiate pazienza.
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3,5 stelle su 5. Recensione in arrivo, probabilmente. Abbiate pazienza.