neuroqueer's profile picture

neuroqueer 's review for:

UR by Stephen King
3.25
adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Protagonist
  • [ ] Hot garbage
  • [ ] Boring boring boring
  • [x] Serviceable
  • [ ] Likeable leads
  • [ ] I love them so much

Side Character
  • [ ] Every character is terrible
  • [ ] Characters commit sin of being boring/generic
  • [x] Enough interesting characters to balance out the few terrible ones
  • [ ] Likeable side characters
  • [ ] Amazing characters all around

Plot
  • [ ] Average, generic plot
  • [ ] Average plot made interesting with creativity
  • [ ] Crazy plot that is either so bad it’s good or just plain bad
  • [x] Unique plot that keeps you interested

Writing
  • [ ] Terribly written
  • [ ] Very simple but effective language
  • [ ] Average writing that does the job
  • [x] Beautiful but accessible writing
  • [ ] Challenging

Short Summary:
This is the first Stephen King book that I have ever read and I’m disappointed.

Not by the writing - I can see why King is a legend. It’s really good.

Not by the story - the plot is unique as heck. A technology-adverse professor buys a kindle and has access to works of authors in alternative universes? It’s a very fascinating idea.

Not exactly by the characters - the lead is a self-absorbed dick (not even a likeable dick). He does get karmic payback in some ways and reflects on it so that makes him more bearable as the story progresses. The other characters have personalities but I can’t even remember their names. The characters otherwise do the job and I was interested in what happened to them.

I’m mainly disappointed that you can tell it’s an ad for the Kindle. I know this book is older and was created when the device was getting popular but….wow, so blatant.

If anything, I’m a bit disappointed at myself that I made this my first entry into Stephen King. I definitely have to dive into his other works.