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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
It is completely as advertised. A touching story of an older woman faced with the death of her husband, a famous writer, and his access to a hidden pool of craft. It takes a very long time to wind up but finishes tidily.
Took a long time to take off, stalled again and then got to the goodies. Nice atmosphere at times, but nowhere near the top of his ouvre. King's strong women are brilliant, though.
Of all the novels Stephen King has written, this is evidently his favorite. It’s deeply personal; the kernel for this story began when he came home from the hospital after a bad bout of pneumonia and found his wife had started cleaning out his studio in order to have it painted. He started thinking about what life would be like after his death and Lisey’s Story was born.
This book focuses on Lisey Landon, widow to famous author Scott Landon. Lisey is deeply grieving her long-time husband. While cleaning out his writing alcove above their barn, a series of events are set into motion that force Lisey to confront difficult memories from her marriage, as well as horrific things Scott has shared about his childhood.
This has a slow start and is more of a quiet, calm read than some of King’s other novels. It bounces from present to past—from events happening now, to during their marriage, as well as a retelling of Scott’s tumultuous and often terrifying upbringing with his father and older brother.
The scenes with Scott, his brother, and father, as well as Lisey and her sisters are deeply relatable: heartbreaking, uplifting, hopeful, and infuriating. Despite the fantasy elements, this is a moving, emotional, and very human story. This one will stick with me for a while and will definitely go on my “to be re-read” list.
This book focuses on Lisey Landon, widow to famous author Scott Landon. Lisey is deeply grieving her long-time husband. While cleaning out his writing alcove above their barn, a series of events are set into motion that force Lisey to confront difficult memories from her marriage, as well as horrific things Scott has shared about his childhood.
This has a slow start and is more of a quiet, calm read than some of King’s other novels. It bounces from present to past—from events happening now, to during their marriage, as well as a retelling of Scott’s tumultuous and often terrifying upbringing with his father and older brother.
The scenes with Scott, his brother, and father, as well as Lisey and her sisters are deeply relatable: heartbreaking, uplifting, hopeful, and infuriating. Despite the fantasy elements, this is a moving, emotional, and very human story. This one will stick with me for a while and will definitely go on my “to be re-read” list.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I get why this is one of King's favourites of his own work. The concept is good, the worldbuilding is interesting. The characters worked pretty well for me, although the constant made up language was a bit much at times. I think this book's pacing is way off, though. It's slow, slowed me down a lot, made me take a long break from reading at all, and that's never a feeling I like. I think it's worth reading if you're a big fan of King's work, but be prepared for a bit of a slog in places.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved it! I haven't read many King books with a female protagonist, but he did a good job here. Somehow he brings his weird otherworld into ours without compromising that he is working with humans.
I get what King is trying to do here. He has a reputation for writing about men who are writers with a strange, supernatural past, or present, or future. His old work wasn't always kind to the women within it. So he is trying to tell the same story through the perspective of the women in those books, the ones who are always sidelined.
I don't know if he exactly succeeded, but it's a good book nonetheless, with some really great lines about love and grief.
I liked Lisey a lot, and King made a great decision in having the whole thing take place a few years after Scott's death. It gives Lisey room to breathe with her grief but still make it so that she still had the capacity to be surprised the emptiness of all the places in her life that Scott used to occupy. This book is, in a funny way, one of King's better love stories. The constant integration of the micro dialect that is created between people who are integrated into each other's lives enhanced that a lot, but I can see it getting annoying for some people.
And the lore around Boo'ya Moon was confusing (read: underdeveloped, even when Lisey finally gets to interact with it) and the name is lowkey awful. Boo'ya Moon a dumb name for a secret dimension and you can't change my mind.
I don't know if he exactly succeeded, but it's a good book nonetheless, with some really great lines about love and grief.
I liked Lisey a lot, and King made a great decision in having the whole thing take place a few years after Scott's death. It gives Lisey room to breathe with her grief but still make it so that she still had the capacity to be surprised the emptiness of all the places in her life that Scott used to occupy. This book is, in a funny way, one of King's better love stories. The constant integration of the micro dialect that is created between people who are integrated into each other's lives enhanced that a lot, but I can see it getting annoying for some people.
And the lore around Boo'ya Moon was confusing (read: underdeveloped, even when Lisey finally gets to interact with it) and the name is lowkey awful. Boo'ya Moon a dumb name for a secret dimension and you can't change my mind.
Lisey's Story starts off very slowly and almost lost me, but it picks up about halfway through. The book suffers from being written in King's worst era (2002-2008) which includes such clunkers as From a Buick 8, The Colorado Kid, Cell, and Duma Key. It also reminded me of two of his other weaker novels Gerald's Game and Rose Madder. The story in Lisey's Story isn't necessarily bad, but it's never fun or exciting. There is an excessive amount of time devoted to character development and it feels like there is never any juice to story. If King had shaved off 200 pages I think I would have liked this novel much more.