Reviews

Duma Key by Stephen King

quantumcrayons's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

youraveragedave's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A truly underrated Stephen King book!  Why aren't people talking more about this book and putting it up there with IT, The Stand, or 11/22/63?  

This book has been off my TBR pile for literally a decade.  Finally picked it up to read along with The Kingslingers podcast.

This book follows a man who is recovering from a near deadly accident at his construction company.  After getting divorced, he heads to FL for a change of scenery and discovers a hidden talent of painting.  But this painting ability has power.

There are great characters in here.  Edgar goes through so much.  After a brain injury, losing an arm, and a crushed pelvis.  He needs to learn to speak, walk, and control his emotions.  Another is the elderly woman also on Duma Key, Elizabeth Eastlake.  She also had a head injury as a child and was a talented artist.  But the best character is Wireman.  He comes across as so cool and confident through the book. Always there with a quip or solid piece of advice. But we learn he's also a broken person.  

This book is so visual (I mean it's about painting and drawing), the How To Draw A Picture chapters are delightful.  

Now just switch painting for writing, and we've got King talking about himself after his own accident.

Any issues with the ending and the furious painting scenes, I just think of King furiously pounding away at the keyboard.  

flavoredowl's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Dementia, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

mvickyli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

a_beautiful_soup's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

4.25

chitzke's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Another great Stephen King novel. How can you go wrong 

mohsin_25's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

megnificent_xoxo's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

abbeyhar103's review against another edition

4.0

Most of Stephen King's recent works aren't spooky, and I also just don't enjoy most of them. This was very different - scary, intriguing, a well-developed story. I even listened to it on audiobook - at 20 hours, that was a big commitment. Well worth it.

heidi__e__'s review against another edition

3.0

this needed to be like three hundred pages shorter and less boring