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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Literally TL;DR I couldn't get into it. I don't know if it was the length, the pacing, or just the story but I quit like 100 or so pages in. I also did not like the switching perspectives of such a large cast. Oh well
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Stephen King didn't even want to write this book, and it shows. His son, who is the one who came up with the idea, didn't even want to write the book. And that shows, too. It's almost as if, if neither of them wanted to be the one to write it, then maybe neither of them should have written it.
We would have been better off if they had just left it alone and never written the book in the first place.
I've heard several negative things about this book, and because it is how the nature of my reading is, those negative comments weren't "concrete" enough to convince me not to read it. I wish now that they had been concrete enough to convince me. If I could go back in time and stop myself from ever being drawn in by the gorgeous cover, I would.
But, alas, I cannot do that. What I can do, though, is express my deepest regrets in this seething review.
Stephen King has never been very good at writing his characters. They all have the same recycled personality traits, the same recycled "traumatic" backstories, the same opinions and mindsets and thought processes. He wrote one character and decided that was going to be every single character in every single book he ever writes. It's boring and redundant and I would like something new, please.
Another thing King likes to recycle is the "traumatic backstory" every single one of his characters seem to have. Whatever this man's obsession is with sexual assault and with sexualizing minors, he needs to stop. There's more ways to "ruin someone's life," and more ways to "make someone turn bad," than sexually assaulting them. I don't think King got the memo, though. I'm so tired of reading about minors being sexualized BY THE NARRATOR, and I'm so tired of reading about how every single character was sexually assaulted and that's why they do drugs, or that's why they're an alcoholic.
What really bothered me about this book, though, was the "message" King was trying to get across. I understand what he was trying to do, but being known for the kind of books he writes, he isn't the one to be writing books that deal with heavy issues like that.
Especially since he doesn't know how to do it.
What I got from this book, basically, is that every woman is the product of the way a man has treated her. That women are "the way that they are" because of men. That women only know what they know and do what they do and think what they think because of men. And when you're trying to write a book that brings things like that to attention, you need to not write as if women aren't their own people outside of their relationships with the men in their life.
Writing a book about the "female plights and struggle and empowerment" DOES NOT MEAN you have to vilify all men in the process? I think the most annoying part of this book was the belief that ONLY men were pedophiles. ONLY men were rapists. ONLY men were murderers (despite a murder happening in the Other Place not too long after the women got there but they conveniently forgot about that, didn't they). ONLY men drank and were violent and beat their wives and children. The world sucked because men lived in it? Please.
When I wasn't disgustingly angry at how this book was written, I was bored. This is the most boring King book I have ever read. If he had focused more on the action and the horror/thriller aspect of the story instead of the social stance aspect, it would have been so much better.
As much as I wanted to like this book, there are just too many characters! After 330 pages, I’m simply bogged down and throwing in the towel.
#TooSlow #MaybeLater
#TooSlow #MaybeLater
Idee interesanta pentru o nuvela de 100 de pagini, King a intins-o pe cateva sute. Prea multe pagini, prea putin sfarsit.
I was really interested to pick this up because the concept sounds similar to The Power. Now that women have all fallen asleep wrapped in cacoons and trying to cut them open wroughts death. What are the men to do?
Now it feels odd for two male authors to be tackling an issue that is centered on women.
This book definitely tackles moral questions of gender. Are men the cause of violence looking at history?
Certainly, the male characters in the story are hardly perfect and do cowardly and terrible things like Don Peters. My gosh, an example of a person who sees things the ways he wants to, blames others or explains away his crimes.
But some are honourable too such as Willy and Clint who despite his faults, stepped up to protect.
The story centres around the females of Dooling county in Appalachia. Like in Stranger Things, the women find themselves in an alternate dimension that is Dooling but destroyed and abandoned. Now they have a choice, should they return to the world with men or should they stay and make a life for themselves?
In other words, start again. Now this put them in the position of power.
The women have certainly progressed quickly from nothing and did so with no power struggles often seen in post apocalyptic stories when different groups meet. It seems that those issues stem from men.
But is it really so simple?
The reader explores the perspectives from multiple characters. Most interesting are the females such as Lila, the sheriff and the inmates are the correctional facility. The lack of freedom and getting used to incarceration changes perspectives and choices. The authors mention a few times that these women are victims of circumstance.
Is it really their fault?
Eve Black "Evie" was so enimatic and crazy. I almost thought she was Eve from the Bible. She was very confusing.
I thought the book raised interesting narratives that we can relate to or certainly I related to as a female. The ending was expected and yet rather open. But the story dragged at times. It was a really long book. Worth a read if you enjoy a story about flawed females and gender stereotypes.
A quote that felt tragically sad was:
"Mostly it was the sons, though, that drew them back. A new start for every woman in the world was goodbye forever to their precious sons and they couldn't bear that. This also made Evie's heart break, too. Sons killed sons. Sons killed daughters. Sons left guns out where other sons could find them and accidentally shoot themselves or their sisters. Sons burned forests and sons dumped chemicals into the earth as soon as the EPA inspectors left. Sons didn't call on birthdays. Sons didn't like to share. Sons hit children, choked girlfriends. Sons figured out they were bigger and never forgot it. Soms didn't care about the world they left for their aons or for their daughters, although they said they did when the time came to run for office."
Page 673 - 674
That hints to me of sacrifice on the woman's part. It plays into the gender roles that women should give in to others, put others needs above their own and be nurturing.
Now it feels odd for two male authors to be tackling an issue that is centered on women.
This book definitely tackles moral questions of gender. Are men the cause of violence looking at history?
Certainly, the male characters in the story are hardly perfect and do cowardly and terrible things like Don Peters. My gosh, an example of a person who sees things the ways he wants to, blames others or explains away his crimes.
But some are honourable too such as Willy and Clint who despite his faults, stepped up to protect.
The story centres around the females of Dooling county in Appalachia. Like in Stranger Things, the women find themselves in an alternate dimension that is Dooling but destroyed and abandoned. Now they have a choice, should they return to the world with men or should they stay and make a life for themselves?
In other words, start again. Now this put them in the position of power.
The women have certainly progressed quickly from nothing and did so with no power struggles often seen in post apocalyptic stories when different groups meet. It seems that those issues stem from men.
But is it really so simple?
The reader explores the perspectives from multiple characters. Most interesting are the females such as Lila, the sheriff and the inmates are the correctional facility. The lack of freedom and getting used to incarceration changes perspectives and choices. The authors mention a few times that these women are victims of circumstance.
Is it really their fault?
Eve Black "Evie" was so enimatic and crazy. I almost thought she was Eve from the Bible. She was very confusing.
I thought the book raised interesting narratives that we can relate to or certainly I related to as a female. The ending was expected and yet rather open. But the story dragged at times. It was a really long book. Worth a read if you enjoy a story about flawed females and gender stereotypes.
A quote that felt tragically sad was:
"Mostly it was the sons, though, that drew them back. A new start for every woman in the world was goodbye forever to their precious sons and they couldn't bear that. This also made Evie's heart break, too. Sons killed sons. Sons killed daughters. Sons left guns out where other sons could find them and accidentally shoot themselves or their sisters. Sons burned forests and sons dumped chemicals into the earth as soon as the EPA inspectors left. Sons didn't call on birthdays. Sons didn't like to share. Sons hit children, choked girlfriends. Sons figured out they were bigger and never forgot it. Soms didn't care about the world they left for their aons or for their daughters, although they said they did when the time came to run for office."
Page 673 - 674
That hints to me of sacrifice on the woman's part. It plays into the gender roles that women should give in to others, put others needs above their own and be nurturing.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This book somehow reminded me of horror books I used to devour as a kid, and unfortunately, not in a particularly good way. The story had its moments, but I felt like something was missing. The plot was centred around themes like gender roles and misogyny, and I could appreciate (be horrified by) the accurate examples of injustice and how they set the scene. Reality is a scary monster (even if the American reality can seem unreal from the outside).
"De sovende" (Sleeping Beauties) had potential to be a good horror story and a comment on our society, but there were some issues that I couldn't ignore. First of all: The story lacked genderqueer, trans and intersex representation. Really? In a story where all the women fall asleep and leave the men? That felt very wrong, and like a huge piece of the story was missing. Another thing: I wish the authors had dug deeper into what a world without women would be like. Also, I didn't get why the main villain had to be sexualised. And the ending fizzled out a bit, although that could be just me not caring much anymore. All in all, I liked parts of the book, but I expected a lot more.
"De sovende" (Sleeping Beauties) had potential to be a good horror story and a comment on our society, but there were some issues that I couldn't ignore. First of all: The story lacked genderqueer, trans and intersex representation. Really? In a story where all the women fall asleep and leave the men? That felt very wrong, and like a huge piece of the story was missing. Another thing: I wish the authors had dug deeper into what a world without women would be like. Also, I didn't get why the main villain had to be sexualised. And the ending fizzled out a bit, although that could be just me not caring much anymore. All in all, I liked parts of the book, but I expected a lot more.
What? I didn't hate the premise, but the predictable slow spiral toward the finish line, with constant additions of new, unimportant characters, and weird unnecessary plot devices made this a tough slog.
Started off well, but by the time I hit the 3/4 mark, I didn't really care any more, I just wanted it to be over. Too long, and as a lot of people have said, too many characters. Preachy woman vs men, and then in the last few pages, one of the main characters has a black vs white crisis of conscience. Choose your message and stick to it. Disappointing.