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kit_alexander's reviews
314 reviews
The Outsider by Stephen King
2.0
2.5 stars. Honestly, this whole book I just kept hoping for more.
Everything about the story is competent, at times thrilling, but mostly pretty safe. None of the characters excited me (except for the delightful oddball Holly Gibney, who apparently features prominently in a King trilogy I haven't read), and the plot, which started out so intriguing, lost me almost completely by the last quarter of the novel.
I think I was just expecting this book to be something it's not, something a little more grounded and mysterious. The big reveal was a disappointment to me because I simply didn't want the kind of answer it provided. Because of that, The Outsider didn't resonate with me, but that's okay. I still enjoyed a decent bit of my time with the story; I found myself jumping at creaky house noises several times, which is a sign that it did something right! I just wish that the tension of first couple hundred pages had carried all the way to the finish line.
Everything about the story is competent, at times thrilling, but mostly pretty safe. None of the characters excited me (except for the delightful oddball Holly Gibney, who apparently features prominently in a King trilogy I haven't read), and the plot, which started out so intriguing, lost me almost completely by the last quarter of the novel.
I think I was just expecting this book to be something it's not, something a little more grounded and mysterious. The big reveal was a disappointment to me because I simply didn't want the kind of answer it provided. Because of that, The Outsider didn't resonate with me, but that's okay. I still enjoyed a decent bit of my time with the story; I found myself jumping at creaky house noises several times, which is a sign that it did something right! I just wish that the tension of first couple hundred pages had carried all the way to the finish line.
The Bobbins – Outcast to the Inner Earth by Tom Boyd
1.0
First, a little backstory:
"A theme-park/resort that looks eerily similar to The Shire is slated to open in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2020. Tom Boyd [father of former gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd] says Ancient Lore Village of Boyd Hollow will be based on his book, The Bobbins: Outcast to the Inner Earth."
The above is a quote from a local news outlet on the double-announcement of a fantasy resort and this, the book it's based on. As soon as you've finished the first page of this monstrosity, you'll see it for exactly what it is: a poorly crafted Tolkien cash-grab.
If there's any doubt in your mind, lines like this should make it plain enough: "The size of the Bobbin's home was simple, 6 bobbins wide by 4 bobbins deep by 2 bobbins tall. Or by the World of Man dimensions, 36 feet by 24 feet by 12 feet." These diversions away from the story (if you could call it that) to describe the exact dimensions of the various dwellings our main character encounters crop up at least once per chapter. Considering this book takes maybe two hours to read, you spend more time learning about what the houses in this world look like than anything else.
For what plot is there, it's not good; barely considered themes of equality and friendship exist without any depth, and the prose itself is dull and filled with grammatical errors. There could have been something cute and light-hearted here; instead, we're left with the most unnecessarily verbose construction blueprints of all time.
"A theme-park/resort that looks eerily similar to The Shire is slated to open in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2020. Tom Boyd [father of former gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd] says Ancient Lore Village of Boyd Hollow will be based on his book, The Bobbins: Outcast to the Inner Earth."
The above is a quote from a local news outlet on the double-announcement of a fantasy resort and this, the book it's based on. As soon as you've finished the first page of this monstrosity, you'll see it for exactly what it is: a poorly crafted Tolkien cash-grab.
If there's any doubt in your mind, lines like this should make it plain enough: "The size of the Bobbin's home was simple, 6 bobbins wide by 4 bobbins deep by 2 bobbins tall. Or by the World of Man dimensions, 36 feet by 24 feet by 12 feet." These diversions away from the story (if you could call it that) to describe the exact dimensions of the various dwellings our main character encounters crop up at least once per chapter. Considering this book takes maybe two hours to read, you spend more time learning about what the houses in this world look like than anything else.
For what plot is there, it's not good; barely considered themes of equality and friendship exist without any depth, and the prose itself is dull and filled with grammatical errors. There could have been something cute and light-hearted here; instead, we're left with the most unnecessarily verbose construction blueprints of all time.