coralinejones's Reviews (556)

SNORK MIMIMIMIMIMI

The fantasy elements of this book were terrible. Not as whimsical as I thought they would be and actually a little monotonous. Very predictable, too. The first third of the book was pretty fun. Lots of world building, as expected from Stephen King, and very slice-of-life. He made the town feel very realistic and lived in. I could see every building and every face, which is what I loved the most about this book. The second we actually learnt about the shed and

the old man died

all of the fantasy-like elements of the story is where it, surprisingly, fell short for me. A lot of this felt like a rehashing of already, well known and well liked, fairy tales, not something original and fresh.

I also did not like how our protagonist, who was supposed to be seventeen in 2013, sounded like an old man. Had this taken place in the 60s or early 70s, I think the dialogue and actions of the main character would've made a lot more sense and flowed better. I couldn't take him serious when he talked like a 72 year old and then immediately went on about FaceBook ad "EarPods". Maybe if this was a low fantasy book, with it taking place on Earth in the human world instead of this made up place, it would've meshed better. At least to me.

Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Could've went without it. I think this would be better as a movie. I almost hope it does.

If this is your first Stephen King novel, STOP! Put this down and read one of his classics instead. Come back when you're educated on how good his writing can actually be.

FINALLY I'M FREE. I don't mean to sound miserable but this was the second worst book I've read this year. I had high expectations for book. Exceptionally high. And it all fell flat very quickly. An adult fantasy plot revolving around a troubled woman of color, she goes to Yale to uncover the truth of a murder whilst dealing with Yale's secret society and the uncovering's of her dark backstory? Sounds right up my ally, everything I tend to love in a book. However, trigger warning's and obvious shock-value bits aside, NOTHING happens in this book. This story being told in almost 500 pages makes absolutely no sense; this could've been cut significantly and it would've improved the overall pacing of the novel. It's so slow at first and only picks up around chapter 7 (100+ pages in) when we begin learning about Alex's backstory.

This book has a problem where it'll get fairly interesting, usually when describing some of the trauma/abuse Alex is going through, or has went through, and then the next 50+ pages is a bunch of nonsense. Not to mention it's so description heavy. Like paragraphs upon paragraphs of information that does very little to move the actual plot along. Half the time I sat wondering what the point of it all was? Like why was I sitting there "wasting time" on these paragraphs when I could be reading the meat and potatoes of this book? Just for that to be the "meat and potatoes."

The likelihood of me reading the next installment(s) of this series when they release is very slim. God bless you all who liked this book, though.

snork mimimi. terrible writing

As somebody who loves horror, loves mystery, loves coming of age storylines, and loved "Shonen" media growing up, me not loving this disappoints me. It wasn't the graphic, disgustingly described body gore, or the way the male characters spoke to each other, or the ignorance of the adults, or the insanity of the plot that upset me. The premise is what got me hooked in the first place. I'm obsessed with it, it's what kept me going until the end of this because I needed to see how this was going to end. But I Hated the writing. Goddddd I hated the writing. Way too many similes used for absolutely no reason, I found myself rolling my eyes half the time, or even laughing/making fun of them every time they popped up. Like we get it. Show us, not tell us. Not to mention, Cutter's writing is a little basic. I like a more challenging read, this wasn't it.

I wish the characters had a bit more life to them. They were explained in a series of tropes in the beginning of the book and that was, for the most part, all we were given with them? I know character description and development isn't the big point of this book, and there were more horrors to uncover than "The Fat One" or "The Big Jock", but I found myself disengaged at certain points because of this? Like, I could find these boys in literally any coming-of-age movie/tv show with an all male cast. Stranger Things, Stand By Me, The Outsiders, The Goonies... Nothing original.

However... The parts of this book that were good were honestly TOO good. I found myself glued to the pages until the story cut away (for a news report or a flashback, which are littered throughout the chapters) and then I was uninterested again until the plot picked back up. The conversations between the characters were heartfelt and felt realistic at times. The world building could've been better, but what we got was honestly stunning.

If the characters weren't so cliché, if the writing was better, and if the plot wasn't straightforward and predictable, I would've rated this higher. I can't say I'd recommend this to anyone (not with the graphic body gore, obscene animal abuse for no reason, and the okay writing), nor would I read this again. 

Very Hunger Games.