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A review by iswendle
The Institute by Stephen King
5.0
A thriller so thrilling that at 3/4 in I had to put it down for a few days, I was just too invested and stressed out about the state of the characters!
The Institute slowly creeps into you. Not that the book starts slow, right from the getgo our protagonist Luke, a child with an incredible IQ, is kidnapped and taken to the secret location of the Institute. At the Institute he meets other children, and they all undergo tests to unlock their psychic powers: telekenesis or telepathy. What's next? You guessed it! Escape.
King surprised me with his vile story. The testing slowly ramps up in intensity, and King describes it in every little detail. And in his writing he drags you in right next to them. I felt for all the characters, and as a reader you really feel connected to them through all the hardship.
I could go on but it's just a terrific thriller. Maybe classic in its setup of imprisonment and psychic testing, but perfect in its execution. It just drags you deeper and deeper, and it gets more and more dreadful for the kids you really just all want to adopt into a loving and warm household.
Some reviews mention the ending, yes it is not perfect. A book that crescendos to the finish like this one is hard to finish with a bang. That doesn't happen, but in my opinion it wasn't possible either. It is a satisfying ending, one that isn't as rosey and goodey as you'd expect, but then again that is fitting to the book.
The Institute slowly creeps into you. Not that the book starts slow, right from the getgo our protagonist Luke, a child with an incredible IQ, is kidnapped and taken to the secret location of the Institute. At the Institute he meets other children, and they all undergo tests to unlock their psychic powers: telekenesis or telepathy. What's next? You guessed it! Escape.
King surprised me with his vile story. The testing slowly ramps up in intensity, and King describes it in every little detail. And in his writing he drags you in right next to them. I felt for all the characters, and as a reader you really feel connected to them through all the hardship.
I could go on but it's just a terrific thriller. Maybe classic in its setup of imprisonment and psychic testing, but perfect in its execution. It just drags you deeper and deeper, and it gets more and more dreadful for the kids you really just all want to adopt into a loving and warm household.
Some reviews mention the ending, yes it is not perfect. A book that crescendos to the finish like this one is hard to finish with a bang. That doesn't happen, but in my opinion it wasn't possible either. It is a satisfying ending, one that isn't as rosey and goodey as you'd expect, but then again that is fitting to the book.