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jenhurst's review against another edition
3.0
If you didn’t know that Stephen king wrote beach reads, neither did I. This is a fast, plot-driven reads that doesn’t have his usual character work or deeper themes and horror elements.
I know this isn’t a popular King work, which made me more excited since I like his work that is commonly not liked by his fans (11/24/63, The shining, Needful things, the Long walk and pet sementary). I’d also heard this had a more YA feel, which I was intrigued by since I like YA novels. Unfortunately, I understand why like Elevation and The Outsider, this was not popular.
If you’ve read The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey or even King’s other book Dr. sleep you’ve read this story. And I enjoyed all those more, particularly The Passage. I’d recommend that one over the others. I expected there to more connections to Dark Tower or his other works, and I didn’t see that either aside from kids with powers. Which, has already been done in The Shining, Carrie, The Firestarter, Dr. sleep, Dreamcatcher, plus The Dark Tower obviously so nothing new here.
I think this is a skippable King novel and not a good one to start with. It’s also not a horror novel, despite winning the goodreads choice awards for horror. I think it just won because King wrote it. This is a fantasy.
I know this isn’t a popular King work, which made me more excited since I like his work that is commonly not liked by his fans (11/24/63, The shining, Needful things, the Long walk and pet sementary). I’d also heard this had a more YA feel, which I was intrigued by since I like YA novels. Unfortunately, I understand why like Elevation and The Outsider, this was not popular.
If you’ve read The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey or even King’s other book Dr. sleep you’ve read this story. And I enjoyed all those more, particularly The Passage. I’d recommend that one over the others. I expected there to more connections to Dark Tower or his other works, and I didn’t see that either aside from kids with powers. Which, has already been done in The Shining, Carrie, The Firestarter, Dr. sleep, Dreamcatcher, plus The Dark Tower obviously so nothing new here.
I think this is a skippable King novel and not a good one to start with. It’s also not a horror novel, despite winning the goodreads choice awards for horror. I think it just won because King wrote it. This is a fantasy.
dianashadel's review against another edition
3.0
If I tell someone about this plot it sounds like a really interesting book, and King writes so beautifully it was enjoyable. There was just that sparkle missing for me, hard to put my finger on. Everything was good in the book, I just didn’t feel motivated to loose myself in the story. I felt aware the whole time that I was sitting at home reading rather than escaping into the story.
laurieoskam's review
mysterious
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
3.25
imzelfish's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
mainereading's review against another edition
4.0
'The Institute' reminded me of 'Stranger Things', 'Carrie', 'IT', and 'Firestarter'. A bunch of kids fighting evil.
I love reading books that have characters with special abilities and 'The Institute' definitely delivered! Stephen King does a fantastic job writing his characters. He's able to have you love characters and despise them to. I loved Luke and the rest of the kids.
There was some moments in the book that were really hard to read because of the abuse that these children go through in the institute. The workers there are vile, and I absolutely hated them! So, if you have a hard time reading books with acts of child abuse you might not want to pick this one up!
I'm not a huge fan of the ending of this book, it broke my heart. Also it kind of felt like there could be a sequel in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed 'The Institute' and it has become one of my favorite novels by Stephen King!
I love reading books that have characters with special abilities and 'The Institute' definitely delivered! Stephen King does a fantastic job writing his characters. He's able to have you love characters and despise them to. I loved Luke and the rest of the kids.
There was some moments in the book that were really hard to read because of the abuse that these children go through in the institute. The workers there are vile, and I absolutely hated them! So, if you have a hard time reading books with acts of child abuse you might not want to pick this one up!
I'm not a huge fan of the ending of this book, it broke my heart. Also it kind of felt like there could be a sequel in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed 'The Institute' and it has become one of my favorite novels by Stephen King!
moietmoi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
mhughes88's review against another edition
3.0
Overall story was enjoyable, kept me wanting to turn over each page and I read through in less than a week so I definitely enjoyed.
The characters whilst okay were largely forgettable, which is unusual for King. I was not attached to any of the characters in ways I often am when reading one of his novels.
Another comment, not necessarily positive or negative but the chapters are very long. I think the whole book had less than 10 in total. As I say not a bad thing, but it may have been good to know before hand as I like to try and read a chapter each sitting which is quite tricky with this book due to the format.
The characters whilst okay were largely forgettable, which is unusual for King. I was not attached to any of the characters in ways I often am when reading one of his novels.
Another comment, not necessarily positive or negative but the chapters are very long. I think the whole book had less than 10 in total. As I say not a bad thing, but it may have been good to know before hand as I like to try and read a chapter each sitting which is quite tricky with this book due to the format.
uwah_ip's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
krehh5's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75