I don't know if it's because I had already DNF'd this one before or just the mood I'm in. But, this was such a long audiobook for the stereotypical power grab, a small town would try to have if they were shut off from the rest of the world. You follow a few main characters, as well as a few side characters within this book/audiobook. This being said, with the audiobook alone, I had a hard time keeping up with each character. I honestly zoned out so many times listening to the audiobook, but I used a credit on Libro - so I mustered through it. I feel like 20-30% could have been cut from this, especially the scene with Sammy, like wtf was that. You could have done so many things to show how crummy and crooked the towns people were and you chose that? Both Big Jim, JR, and all his minions are absolute menaces to society. King does know how to write characters that you'll hate to the bone, I'll give him that. Also, why did it take over 10-15% of the book for them to come to the conclusion that a dome was above their head? Overall, I just did not vibe with this read.

I don't know who I'd recommend this to honestly. It's over 1000 pages and over 30 hours of audio, so if you like long books, go for it? I personally didn't like this King book, but you may!! Just be aware of the content warnings. Maybe, this would be for those who like the show? I personally haven't watched it, but I feel like I would enjoy it more as a show rather than the book. It probably cut out a lot of things lol

CW: rape, sexual harassment, sexual assault, violence, murder, drug addiction, drugs (this is a list off the top of my head)