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A review by abbier_14
The Institute by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was giving stranger things vibes while also reminding me of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer which i read a few years ago and wanna do a re read eventually, combined with black mirror.
- This book was tense and I think the pacing was great. Especially near the end when the stories of the kids in the back half, the staff, and Luke were all intertwining which added to the drama and suspense. I was scared to read ahead and often skipped to the last word of the chapter lol to mentally prepare myself.
- The concept of The Institute was interesting I love media about kids with powers being trapped in facilities and stuff idk why but its always a fun plot. I think the inner workings of the place was well thought out with all the experiments and tests and stuff. Ive seen some reviews that find how run down The Institute was as unbelievable and just plot convenience, but me personally I think it added to the eerie vibe and I could see how it would get to that state.
- The characters' personalities were alright, no one I hated but also no one im gonna stan. The one thing I didn't like though was the dialogue and I think this is a thing about Stephen King books that fall down a lot of the time. He has a tendency to use loads of phrases and references that idk just feel kinda out of place and clunky? It just makes every character feel dated even if they are like 14 years old which is the case in this book.
I was cringing a bit at the dialogue between the kids (maybe projection from being a cringe child myself lol) and it did take me out of the story a bit. I kept thinking 'oh yeah this is definitely written by an old man instead of an organic conversation between two kids' which obviously ruined the immersion in some aspects of the story. However these are abnormal kids in an abnormal situation so maybe this is actually realistic dialogue between them lol.
- Yeah I think this was concluded well although all those kids are gonna need decades of therapy so its difficult to think of this as a HAE. It was a bit confusing at the end when that guy with a lisp came back but I can just omit that from my memory without it ruining the book.
Also I will say I was enjoying the police guys story at the beginning so it was kinda sad how he had a very minor part. I thought it was going to flip perspectives but it ended up just focusing on the kids. It would have been nice to just get a glimpse at what he was doing, even if it was just boring mundane tasks or him settling into the new small town.
- This book was tense and I think the pacing was great. Especially near the end when the stories of the kids in the back half, the staff, and Luke were all intertwining which added to the drama and suspense. I was scared to read ahead and often skipped to the last word of the chapter lol to mentally prepare myself.
- The concept of The Institute was interesting I love media about kids with powers being trapped in facilities and stuff idk why but its always a fun plot. I think the inner workings of the place was well thought out with all the experiments and tests and stuff. Ive seen some reviews that find how run down The Institute was as unbelievable and just plot convenience, but me personally I think it added to the eerie vibe and I could see how it would get to that state.
- The characters' personalities were alright, no one I hated but also no one im gonna stan. The one thing I didn't like though was the dialogue and I think this is a thing about Stephen King books that fall down a lot of the time. He has a tendency to use loads of phrases and references that idk just feel kinda out of place and clunky? It just makes every character feel dated even if they are like 14 years old which is the case in this book.
I was cringing a bit at the dialogue between the kids (maybe projection from being a cringe child myself lol) and it did take me out of the story a bit. I kept thinking 'oh yeah this is definitely written by an old man instead of an organic conversation between two kids' which obviously ruined the immersion in some aspects of the story. However these are abnormal kids in an abnormal situation so maybe this is actually realistic dialogue between them lol.
- Yeah I think this was concluded well although all those kids are gonna need decades of therapy so its difficult to think of this as a HAE. It was a bit confusing at the end when that guy with a lisp came back but I can just omit that from my memory without it ruining the book.
Also I will say I was enjoying the police guys story at the beginning so it was kinda sad how he had a very minor part. I thought it was going to flip perspectives but it ended up just focusing on the kids. It would have been nice to just get a glimpse at what he was doing, even if it was just boring mundane tasks or him settling into the new small town.