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A review by howlinglibraries
Gerald's Game by Stephen King
3.0
DNF @ 54%
You might notice that you don't see many 3-star DNFs from me; I typically either don't give them a rating (because I didn't read enough to form a fair opinion), or give them 1-2 stars (because they were so harmful or terrible that I couldn't stand another page). That said, Gerald's Game is like the definition of my 3-star DNF review: it wasn't for me, but it wasn't bad.
This is definitely one of King's less popular novels, I think for many reasons, but I truly didn't think it was a case of bad writing or a bad plot. I was legitimately interested in what was happening to poor Jessie for the first 30%, and I liked the idea of this incredibly plausible scenario: a woman being left chained up, alone, and beginning to suffer visions and intrusive thoughts that it's impossible to know whether to blame on dehydration, panic, mental instability, trauma, or something supernatural.
That said, once it gets close to the halfway mark, things begin to feel slow, and repetitive, and I just couldn't seem to find any interest left for the story. Once I realized that, in 10 days, I had only read maybe 5% (split up between two sittings, at that), and that every time I picked it up, I felt at risk of going into a reading slump, I decided it was time to call it quits.
Normally in a case like this, I might put it on my "finish-me-soon" shelf to try again later, but honestly, I just don't think this is a book I'm missing out on much by leaving alone. That said, if the plot interests you, I absolutely think it's worth picking up and giving a try.
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CONTENT WARNINGS BELOW INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST 54%
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Content warnings for sexual assault, child abuse, pedophilia, death, grief, hallucinations, imprisonment, dehydration, PTSD, mutilation of a corpse, animal neglect/abuse, misogyny, fat-shaming
You might notice that you don't see many 3-star DNFs from me; I typically either don't give them a rating (because I didn't read enough to form a fair opinion), or give them 1-2 stars (because they were so harmful or terrible that I couldn't stand another page). That said, Gerald's Game is like the definition of my 3-star DNF review: it wasn't for me, but it wasn't bad.
This is definitely one of King's less popular novels, I think for many reasons, but I truly didn't think it was a case of bad writing or a bad plot. I was legitimately interested in what was happening to poor Jessie for the first 30%, and I liked the idea of this incredibly plausible scenario: a woman being left chained up, alone, and beginning to suffer visions and intrusive thoughts that it's impossible to know whether to blame on dehydration, panic, mental instability, trauma, or something supernatural.
That said, once it gets close to the halfway mark, things begin to feel slow, and repetitive, and I just couldn't seem to find any interest left for the story. Once I realized that, in 10 days, I had only read maybe 5% (split up between two sittings, at that), and that every time I picked it up, I felt at risk of going into a reading slump, I decided it was time to call it quits.
Normally in a case like this, I might put it on my "finish-me-soon" shelf to try again later, but honestly, I just don't think this is a book I'm missing out on much by leaving alone. That said, if the plot interests you, I absolutely think it's worth picking up and giving a try.
---
CONTENT WARNINGS BELOW INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST 54%
---
Content warnings for sexual assault, child abuse, pedophilia, death, grief, hallucinations, imprisonment, dehydration, PTSD, mutilation of a corpse, animal neglect/abuse, misogyny, fat-shaming