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A review by bethboo
The Institute by Stephen King
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
4.5
Wowzzaaaa this was a good book!!
I fell in love with the main character. I feel like the author did well with the POV of a child and reminding us that even though Luke's a genius he doesn't know everything. The story was fascinating and well paced. I definitely cried at least 4 times. I'm just sensitive to kid trauma. A criticism I do have that didn't really affect my rating for it was the dialogue. It felt kind of cheesy and unrealistic, especially for kids. Used a lot of idioms and colloquial sayings, too many. It made conversations more interesting but people don't talk like that in real life.
I also wouldn't consider this book Horror, more likely Dark Fiction or Psychological Thriller or something like that.
Parts that absolutely killed me:
-When Luke said that someone upstairs must like him (because some lucky things lined up for him) but thought of his dead parents and thought that they must not like him enough
-When Maureen says she chose Luke over everyone else
-When Tim told the kids that the world wasn't their responsibility
-When Tim hugged Nick
Two reasons that the book isn't 5 star:
1- Stephen King is so fucking weird with the female children. He has to describe their prepubescent bodies in the weirdest creepiest ways. I do not feel comfortable with the way he treated the children characters that were girls.
2- The ending wasn't super satisfying
I fell in love with the main character. I feel like the author did well with the POV of a child and reminding us that even though Luke's a genius he doesn't know everything. The story was fascinating and well paced. I definitely cried at least 4 times. I'm just sensitive to kid trauma. A criticism I do have that didn't really affect my rating for it was the dialogue. It felt kind of cheesy and unrealistic, especially for kids. Used a lot of idioms and colloquial sayings, too many. It made conversations more interesting but people don't talk like that in real life.
I also wouldn't consider this book Horror, more likely Dark Fiction or Psychological Thriller or something like that.
Parts that absolutely killed me:
-When Luke said that someone upstairs must like him (because some lucky things lined up for him) but thought of his dead parents and thought that they must not like him enough
-When Maureen says she chose Luke over everyone else
-When Tim told the kids that the world wasn't their responsibility
-When Tim hugged Nick
Two reasons that the book isn't 5 star:
1- Stephen King is so fucking weird with the female children. He has to describe their prepubescent bodies in the weirdest creepiest ways. I do not feel comfortable with the way he treated the children characters that were girls.
2- The ending wasn't super satisfying
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping