This book is very standard King. King is not afraid whatsoever of using 500 pages to describe, in detail, the daily life of his characters with no connection at all to plot simply to flesh those characters out. There *are* King stories that are more plot-focused, and stories in which those meanderings are more closely tied in with the plot. The Shining, Salem's Lot, Carrie, and Misery (basically his early work) has the same amount of character work, but it all relates more directly to the plot. The Stand, meanwhile, has a 100 page interlude about Mother Abigail making dinner and telling the entire story of her life in a way that doesn't relate *at all* to the larger plot. If you want every word (or even 50% of the book) to advance the plot in some way, King will drive you insane.
Oh man, the Sadie relationship made the book amazing for me! I loved the focus on that. I’ve only read a couple King novels, but he is known for meandering a bit since he doesn’t outline or plan stories at all.
Edit: just realised I called you Mike. Shouldn't comment while struggling through the flu! I'm with you on this one Matt. Prior to reading this I read a crazy amount of 5/5 reviews and opinions stating this book is absolutely perfect. I gave it 4/5 in the end, as it is decent, but just bogged down in the middle with about 150 odd pages that I found a bit boring.
My wife loved this novel. She finished the monster in just 3 days. I however would rate it in the middle like you did. King is very captivating but sometimes the execution of the idea is lost in his writing.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews i actually really enjoy his early horror novels. I would have to say my King’s top three would be IT, Salems Lot and the Stand. A lot of his stuff is very intriguing and captivating but the overall endings can be lack luster which is why he is not one of my favorites. I get why people love him though.
I fear I’m gonna have a very similar take on this one based on everything you said, and that’s not ideal for such a huge tome. I wasn’t too high on Salem’s Lot, my only King so far, so I’m really unsure about him so far.
My favorite book of all time is The Stand. That being said, if you thought 11/22/63 was meandering, then you’d probably think the same thing about The Stand. I’d recommend some of his shorter novels (or try to find the older version of The Stand that doesn’t have the extra 400 pages he added later). Some great, short, non-horror books of his are The Long Walk, Different Seasons (a novella collection that has the stories that The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me are based off of), and the first few books of The Dark Tower.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Dark Tower is a good choice! From what you’ve said in this review, I’m fairly confident that you’ll find some Stephen King books that you’ll really like (and others that you’ll really hate).
"And then it became a slice of life story," is an accurate description of many King novels. A little disappointed you didn't love it, but considering your sensibilities as a reader it's not super surprising. I hope you enjoy the Dark Tower more!
I've started The Dark Tower recently and my god it's one hell of a unique vibe! Though keep a lookout for the extended Stephen King universe... It's quite a commitment to start the dark Tower series.
I agree with your criticism of this book. The weak middle turned this from a great book to a good book for me. I love Stephen King, but his biggest flaw as a writer is sometimes he goes on too many tangents in his books that make them a little too long. He doesn’t do that in every book, though. When he keeps his plots tight, his books are great.
I've been very suspicious of King in the past. But when I read Eyes of The Dragon, a book that's not great but a pretty decent story, I was sure he is more than a horror writer. He is indeed a magnificent and a very experimental one, sometimes his stories take a strange path but good or bad it does not bore me, I like when an author tries different things. Maybe this "slice of life" plot is not for this book, but I like the idea that gave it a shot, and it's ok that it didn't work. What always works are your videos, Matt. A great review as always.
King was best in the 80's, unfortunately writing became a routin for him since. I highly recommend Misery from him, it isn't about some mystic monster, it is all about vulnerability and he captures it brilliantly.
It’s funny you just posted this, because I just bought it. I really enjoyed the Stand and Salem’s Lot, also Pet Semetary was good but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as most people. This book has been on my tbr since it came out, so I’m really looking forward to it
I don't like horrors (except few books) too but luckily Stephen King wrote also a few different books I enjoy. I liked this particular book a lot, now it's probably my favorite King's book. There is a part of this book around a half of it when it reads a bit like a reportage about a few different people and not alternative story. However, I liked the romance subplot in this book (very unusual thing for me). Also liked the bittersweet ending of the book.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews I liked The Stand, The Green Mile and also Under the Dome. First few books of The Dark Tower series were also quite enjoyable, however, I am not one of the biggest fans of them. Still pretty good.
As someone who isn’t into horror, this book sounds interesting to me. I might give it a shot at some point when I need a break from fantasy! Have a good holiday season, Matt!
Hello 👋 i don’t like horror books either to spooky for me 😱 I’ve purchased this book look forward reading this book... have a wonderful Christmas with ur family 🎄❄️☃️
Stephen King is hugely overrated. I thought Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and Pet Semetary were all good and I loved his non-fiction book Danse Macabre (apart from some unexplained and insane comments he made about William Peter Blatty). That said, The Stand was okay but overblown. The Shining wasn’t nearly as good as the Kubrick film, not even close. The Dead Zone, Cujo, Firestarter: meh, meh, and meh. The Gunslinger is incoherent, boring, and self-indulgent. And then there’s It, speaking of overblown. 😅It had a terrible ending and one mind-blowingly offensive scene that for some reason people want to look the other way on but shouldn’t. I’ve pretty much given up on King at this point. I tried, but he’s definitely not for me!
Here's my biggest issue with king...he is consistently inconsistent. He so often fails to stick the landing of some of his most interesting books. But when he sticks the land he REALLY sticks it. I stopped reading him for religious reasons and because of the constant inconsistency with his endings
For me, it's a 4⭐ book, love the hole story, but the romance wasn't quite well develop, I understand the human impact on the story, but it's wasn't well written...never fell atached to that part, to me it wasn't an adult romance, more than a teenager one, although I think it's a great book, thanks for the review...🇨🇴
Another great and even handed review. I've only read one King Book. Salems Lot. And I must say it was the worse thing I've ever read. It was 98% filler. Nothing scary or exciting happens. My guess is ppl love it due to nostalgia but as with Way of Kings, which is horrible, people just want to read what is popular. They want to be on that bandwagon.
I would say that Stephen King isn't for you, unfortunately. If you aren't into the slice of life and relationship building, that is exactly what he excels at. I always get so into the characters and their development as people so I really enjoy most of his works.
I don't mind slice of life but it just felt like such a detour from the plot here. There's a good way to blend the two sometimes but this one felt disjointed to me.
