The Institute
Not the Stephen King of my youth. Not event the Stephen King that wrote 11/22/63 just a handful of years ago or the Bill Hodges books, which were on the better side of decent.
None of the characters are fleshed out, are we only supposed to like them because they are clearly the protagonists? Are they only evil because it's clear they are the bad guys? Another hundred pages ought to have been spent creating a bond with the characters....
Random complaints:
- The dialogue is weak. Seems like every character's witty riposte is little more than 'Shut up'. Sometimes with an exclamation point.
- Do any kids even say Jeepers anymore?
- The shootout was just plain dumb. I almost stopped reading when the homeless woman said something to the effect of "This is the south. We bring it." *cringe*
Save your money. Go to the library and read this or skip it altogether.
================
I think we can objectively agree that Stephen King, whether you like what he's doing or not, is very
very good at what he does. And I think we can subjectively agree that this book rides the Stranger Things epidemic straight to the bank, which itself rode a lot of King's earlier work to the bank first, and I'm not even mad because I loved every second of it and now everyone's rolling in money.
Some preliminary thoughts that probably won't become a review:
- Ordinarily I hate long books, but this one actually went by so quickly-- the entire novel takes place over the span of about a month, and considering everything that happens, you can feel that urgency all throughout
- Am I a sucker for the well-meaning hero with a complicated past? Why yes. Yes I am.
- To be honest, I found the pop culture references obnoxious, but luckily they don't really persist past the 50-page mark (although for real Stephen King referencing the twins that reminded Luke of the movie version of The Shining how dare you)
- Great book, man, I don't know what to tell you
Guest 2 years ago
I love this book. Cool thing is I was just on a Delta flight yesterday! Talk about coincidence for the first chapter lol
ass-kicker159 4 years ago
its really cool book the movie was good but this is better reading could make it seem fun but when i was a little boy i hate book and now look at me i love books its fun its everything and thy even make it a movie.
Guest 4 years ago
wow- thanks, I really enjoyed this awful-wonderful-scary story! I fell in love with these kids and other characters- and it was a fascinating /horrifying premise. Another great win, Mr. King- thank you! I only hope when this is made into a movie, that they do it right!
Guest 4 years ago
Really enjoyed this book took me in lead me on down a new path thanks mr king another book I will reread many timesWrite Review:
User Reviews: