Tag: stephen king

Book Review | Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Posted December 8, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special 12-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless – mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky 12-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted fans of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

The sequel to The Shining, which I read recently, and I’m reading everything Stephen King! Book by book.

The Quotes

“There came a time when you realized that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.”

“The silence wasn’t uncomfortable or hostile but exhausted–the quiet of people who have a great deal to think about but not a hell of a lot to say.”

“We’re only as sick as our secrets.”

“You don’t have to live this way if you don’t want to. You CAN, of course… but you don’t have to.”

The Narrator(s)

Will Patton. He’s one of my favorite narrators for Stephen King books!

My Thoughts

I watched the movie for Doctor Sleep a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I meant to read the book then but hadn’t gotten around to it until now. The first time I read The Shining (and watched the movie) was even more years ago and by the time I watched the Doctor Sleep movie, I’d pretty much forgotten everything about The Shining except for the regular pop culture references.

The Shining was the BOTM for my online bookclub in October, and I loved revisiting the story again so after it was done, I decided to go ahead and jump into Doctor Sleep next. I’m so glad I did because it was brilliant!

I’m a huge fan of SK’s books so I may be a bit biased, but I love how he tells a story. The transition from Danny Torrance being little boy in The Shining to a full adult in Doctor Sleep is so smooth and expertly written. I loved seeing him as an adult; reflecting on his childhood, his experience in the Overlook Hotel, the loss of his father, and what happens next. That in itself is brilliant!

And then there’s the story itself! Abra is another little girl with the Shining and there are evil forces who want to possess her Shine. Danny plays a part in thwarting the evil forces, and I love how things come a full circle in the end. The character development in SK’s stories are always so incredible, and as I’ve said so many times, I’m a character-driven reader, so it’s no wonder I love his books. I will never not recommend SK’s books!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Posted October 25, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed.

Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.

Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat.

But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully clear path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.

A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

It’s the BOTM for my in-person bookclub, and a buddy read for my online bookclub. It’s Halloween season, what can I say?

The Quotes

“Sometimes dead is better”

“Cats were the gangsters of the animal world, living outside the law and often dying there. There were a great many of them who never grew old by the fire.”

“He’s my cat! He’s not God’s cat! Let God have his own cat! Let God have all the damn old cats He wants, and kill them all! Church is mine!”

“The barrier was not made to be broken. Remember this: there is more power here than you know. It is old and always restless. Remember.”

The Narrator(s)

Michael C. Hall. I love him!

My Thoughts

My audiobook copy has an author’s note which really enhanced my experience of reading the book. Apparently, a lot of the events in the book were based on real life things that happened for Stephen King and his family. Smucky was his daughter’s cat, was buried in a Pet Sematary, spelt exactly like that, near their house, with the exact epitaph written for Smucky in the book. His daughter also said the exact same words about how God should get his own cat and leave hers alone.

Thankfully, the harrowing, horrifying stuff did not actually happen to the author and his family! King has said that he considers this book the one he finds most scary, and I can imagine why. “Sometimes dead is better.” We should never try to play God, nothing good comes from it, and this book is the absolute embodiment of why that is.

I can’t talk more about the details without spoiling the book, but I do want to talk about the writing. As usual, I love how King tells the story. I love the buildup, the slow escalation, and the thrill the closer we get to the end. His characters are amazing, their relationship dynamics, the ways they interact with each other. There’s always something to be gotten from a King novel.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Shining by Stephen King

Posted October 25, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Shining by Stephen King

Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote…and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

The last time I read this was more than a decade ago and it’s the BOTM for my online bookclub.

The Quotes

“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”

“Small children are great accepters. They don’t understand shame, or the need to hide things.”

“He would write it for the reason he felt that all great literature, fiction and nonfiction, was written: truth comes out, in the end it always comes out. He would write it because he felt he had to.”

“That’s your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act together and just go on.”

The Narrator(s)

Campbell Scott. Great narration, I was immersed.

My Thoughts

I think the last time I read this book was so long ago, my memories of it was interwoven with the movie because of how prominent the movie is. This time, my memories of both the book and movie have faded quite a bit so I was surprised by a great many things I had long forgotten.

What I loved most about reading it this time is seeing more of Wendy’s and Danny’s POVs. I think Jack stood out too much in the movie, which isn’t surprising, but the book gave a lot more depth to Wendy’s and Danny’s characters. I also loved Hallorann; he might be one of my favorite characters in the book even though we don’t see him very much. He’s the kind of character that makes an impact on you even just crossing paths with him randomly.

I also feel like I got a lot more out of the book this time around; maybe because I’m rereading it, maybe because I’m older now and seeing it with a new perspective, maybe because it’s a BOTM and I’m reading it with other people and seeing their perspectives.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Cujo by Stephen King

Posted September 21, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Cujo by Stephen King

Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

The #1 national bestseller for Stephen King’s rabid fans, Cujo “hits the jugular” (The New York Times) with the story of a friendly Saint Bernard that is bitten by a sick bat. Get ready to meet the most hideous menace ever to savage the flesh and devour the mind.

Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day, Cujo chases a rabbit into a cave inhabited by sick bats and emerges as something new altogether.

Meanwhile, Vic and Donna Trenton, and their young son Tad, move to Maine. They are seeking peace and quiet, but life in this small town is not what it seems. As Tad tries to fend off the terror that comes to him at night from his bedroom closet, and as Vic and Donna face their own nightmare of a marriage on the rocks, there is no way they can know that a monster, infinitely sinister, waits in the daylight.

What happens to Cujo, how he becomes a horrifying vortex inescapably drawing in all the people around him, makes for one of the most heart-stopping novels Stephen King has ever written. “A genuine page-turner that grabs you and holds you and won’t let go” (Chattanooga Times), Cujo will forever change how you view man’s best friend.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

I guess I’m making my way through Stephen King’s catalog faster than usual now that there are buddy reads happening. I love Stephen King and I would read him anyway, but it’s so much more fun when you can discuss the books with other Stephen King fans.

The Quotes

“It would perhaps not be amiss to point out that he had always tried to be a good dog. He had tried to do all the things his MAN and his WOMAN, and most of all his BOY, had asked or expected of him. He would have died for them, if that had been required. He had never wanted to kill anybody. He had been struck by something, possibly destiny, or fate, or only a degenerative nerve disease called rabies. Free will was not a factor.”

“When there was nothing left but survival, when you were right down to the strings and nap and ticking of yourself, you survived or you died and that seemed perfectly all right.”

“The two of them had discovered it was all right to open the closets…as long as you didn’t poke too far back in them. Because things might still be lurking there, ready to bite.”

“A woman doesn’t necessarily mind being looked at. It’s being mentally undressed that makes you nervous.”

The Narrator(s)

Lorna Raver. It was a good listening experience. Lorna Raver did some pretty decent voices and the sound engineering was good too.

My Thoughts

This is a reread and it’s funny because most of what I remembered most about the story was the scary dog, of course, but rereading it now I see that it’s so much more than that.

We get a lot of background story with the characters – there are several notable characters – and we start to care about them very much. They are all flawed in some way; we find out about their marital problems, career problems, car problems, kids problems, life-in-general problems. Even their (very young) kids have problems!

The characters here are so multi-faceted and humanly flawed, and it’s interesting to see how their individual thoughts and behaviors created a butterfly effect that led them down this road to Cujo. It’s an intense read, and so heartwrenching.

I’m also paying more attention now to the crossovers between his books and that enhances the reading experience even more. It’s been a while since I read The Dead Zone, but I remember Frank Dodd and I like how his story was incorporated here. I also just read You Like It Darker earlier this year, and I like that one of the characters here continues his story there in Rattlesnakes.

Also, poor Cujo. He’s the monster portrayed in this book, but he’s not the real monster if you really think about it. This is just an incredible book, so well-written, and I think it’s up there as one of my favorite King books (but there are so many of them!).

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Posted August 23, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

11/22/63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. Unless…

In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane — and insanely possible — mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

This book is a reread. I read it a while ago and remember loving it but not much else. I watched the film adaptation a couple of years ago and wanted to reread then but didn’t, and then I found it as a buddy read recently, so I thought why not.

The Quotes

“When all else fails, give up and go to the library.”

“I’m one of those people who doesn’t really know what he thinks until he writes it down.”

“If you’ve ever been homesick, or felt exiled from all the things and people that once defined you, you’ll know how important welcoming words and friendly smiles can be.”

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”

The Narrator(s)

Craig Wasson. Okay, I don’t know if it’s a narrator issue or a sound engineer issue, but the volume inconsistencies were painful, literally, to my ears. The narration and the different character voices were great, in themselves, but there were parts where the characters shouted, or spoke harshly, and they were loud and painful! If I turned down the volume, I couldn’t hear the quiet parts well. If I turned up the volume, I had to brace for pain. It was not fun.

My Thoughts

The audiobook wasn’t fun because of the volume issues, but the story itself was amazing, and I think I love it more the second time around! Partly because it was a buddy read; reading with others and having discussions about the book help me notice details I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed, and make me think about things more.

Also, funny enough, while I’m still unhappy about the volume issues with the audiobook, I feel like listening to it this time around actually helped me notice some things I didn’t before, especially with some of the theme and repetitions in the story. It’s interesting because I usually notice things more on print and miss a lot of details when I’m listening to a book, but I think when things get repeated so many times, and if the narrator emphasizes those parts, I definitely take notice.

This audiobook was a 30-hour chonker but it was such an incredible journey. I got so much more out of it this time, and I’m definitely thinking of rereading it again eventually because I believe there’s still more to get out of it!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | You Like It Darker by Stephen King

Posted June 28, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

You Like It Darker by Stephen King

From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary new collection of twelve short stories, many never-before-published, and some of his best EVER.

“You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.

“Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “The Answer Man” asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.

King’s ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys, and mysteries; each feels iconic. You like it darker? You got it.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

The Reason

Because I’m a huge fan of Stephen King’s and he just keeps getting better!

The Quotes

“Imagination is hungry, and needs to be fed.”

“The world is full of rattlesnakes. Sometimes you step on them and they don’t bite. Sometimes you step over them and they bite anyway.”

“Grief sleeps but doesn’t die. At least not until the griever does.”

“He considered this, then looked out the window at the steady rain. Nothing is colder than cold November rain. It crossed my mind that someone should write a song about it… and eventually, someone did.”

The Narrator(s)

Will Patton, and Stephen King for a couple of the stories. I always love Stephen King narrating his own stories, and Will Patton is the next best narrator.

My Thoughts

All the stories are so good and engrossing. I find myself getting sucked in and wanting more. I listened to these stories on audiobook and just flew through them. There were some that were more memorable than others; Two Talented Bastids, Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream, Rattlesnakes, and The Answer Man. Rattlesnakes is very haunting and also refers back to Cujo and Duma Key. I’ve read both, a while ago, and remember loving them but I don’t remember much else and this made me want to reread!

My Feels

I love that Stephen King is such a prolific writer and I have so many more of his books I haven’t read and can look forward to, because he always leaves me wanting more. His stories are just so real, so well-written, and flow so well. I have so much admiration and respect for his mastery.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Time Travel Thursday | May 2

Posted May 2, 2024 by Haze in Time Travel Thursday, Weekly Book Memes / 1 Comment

It’s Time Travel Thursday! Hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog, this is where you get to take a look back at what you were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and get to relive those bookish memories!

This time in 2023 I was reading:

Happy Place by Emily Henry

My thoughts:

This book gave me all the feels. I love that it’s a different take on fake dating, from the other side of the relationship, which changed a lot of the dynamics. And I love the whole found family aspect of it as well. It made me laugh, it made me cry – both happy and sad tears – because it was also really bittersweet. People change and grow, sometimes they grow apart, sometimes they find a way to grow together. I love that.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This time in 2022 I was reading:

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb

My thoughts:

This is the 3rd book in The Farseer Trilogy. I loved the author’s Liveship Traders series, and I wanted to like this series too, but there were some things that happened in this book that I couldn’t get over at the time and I DNF’d the book. I also didn’t like the protagonist very much because he’s so whiny and seems more like an anti-hero, but unlikeable protagonists don’t really bother me in general as long as they are interesting. I may possibly try this again eventually.

My rating: ⭐⭐/5

This time in 2021 I was reading:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

My thoughts:

There was a chapter that mentioned simplifying and dumbing down the philosophies/concepts being discussed, I think it was titled Life and Death and Quantum something something, and that kind of summarizes the whole book for me.

I like the ideas behind this story, the theme of the book. It’s a story meant to comfort, motivate, inspire, and I think it would have worked very well as a fable. But as a full-length book it was boring, repetitive, preachy… and I felt like I was being talked down to. There were a lot of “wise-sounding quotes” that felt pretentious; the kinds that sound profound but say nothing.

I really wanted to like this book, and I even started out wanting to give it a 3-star rating, but the more I think about it, the less I think I like it, so I’m going with a 2-star rating.

My rating: ⭐⭐/5

This time in 2020 I was reading:

The Institute by Stephen King

My thoughts:

I listened to this one on audiobook. I love most of Stephen King’s works and I especially enjoy the really long books. This one was 19 hours on audio and apparently approx. 800 pages.

I wrote a long spoilery review on this one on Goodreads, but the gist is that there is a lot to like about it, and it’s definitely worth reading.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Overall Comparisons

It looks like I had some hits and misses at this time in the last few years. They are all also very different books with very different vibes. To be fair, the books with the good ratings were written by two of my go-to authors – Emily Henry, and Stephen King. I’ve only read one other Matt Haig book that I was lukewarm about, and while I loved Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders, I’ve only read two of her series. I am open to reading more of Robin Hobb though, and trying this one again too.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What were you reading at this time in the past?

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Book Review | Holly by Stephen King

Posted January 3, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Holly by Stephen King

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #10: Told in non-chronological order)
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge
2024 Series Enders Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

The Reason

I’m a huge fan of Stephen King’s works. I haven’t read all his older books, but I’ll always jump on his new releases when I can. When Holly came out last year, I didn’t realize it was part of a series, nor that her story started from the Mr. Mercedes series – which I hadn’t read at the time. So I started reading the Mr. Mercedes books first, and finished them, then I checked out the Holly Gibney series, and realized I’d already read the first one, The Outsider, and loved it, although I didn’t realize at the time who Holly was. I just finished the second one listed as part of the series, If It Bleeds, so I finally got to read Holly, the series ender! (I’m hoping there will be more books, I love Holly and I want more!)

The Characters

Well, Holly, of course. I love her in this book and I love her even more because I read the Mr. Mercedes books first and saw her growth. I wrote about it in my review for If It Bleeds, that Holly can appear to be timid and vulnerable, but she is one of the most courageous characters I have ever had the privilege to get to know. She’s smart and resourceful, dedicated and loyal, organized and determined. But she’s not infallible. She is flawed and makes stupid mistakes, but she calls herself out on them.

I also really love Barbara and Jerome, siblings who are also Holly’s closest friends, and who help her with some of her investigations. We meet them in the Mr. Mercedes series, and through all these stories, their bond have only gotten stronger.

Now, the villains in this book, Professors Rodney and Emily Harris; I hate them, but they are such well-written characters. It’s fascinating to sort of see through their POV, and not be able to fathom how there can be people capable of such evil, and the cognitive dissonance they must cultivate in order to justify their actions.

The other villain in this book is even more interesting, not because she is more evil than the professors, but because her kind of evil is more common, and her victims more close to home. Holly Gibney’s mother, Charlotte Gibney. We meet her from the Mr. Mercedes series, and we see a bit more of her in If It Bleeds too. In this book, Charlotte isn’t even present except in Holly’s mind and we see the psychological and emotional toll Charlotte’s evil takes on Holly.

The Quotes

“Gifts are fragile. You must never entrust yours to people who might break it.”

“Just when you think you’ve seen the worst human beings have to offer, you find out you’re wrong.”

“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope. If it does, climb it. See what’s at the top.”

“Does anyone ever get complete closure? Especially from a parent?”

“Holder-onners are never able to understand let-goers. They are tribes that just can’t understand each other.”

My Thoughts

I love that the villains were elderly and used their frailty as bait and alibi. I love that they are scary and terrifying to the reader who knows their true nature before the characters in the book do. Personally, I don’t think old people are so easily exempted from suspicion, especially if their eccentricities have been noted by their students and colleagues, as it seems they have with the professors in this book. I also like the way Stephen King incorporated Covid and differing political standpoints into the storyline. It’s true to life, and it’s true to Holly’s character, and I think it makes sense for authenticity, even if some people may not agree with Holly. She’s the MC of this book, so her viewpoint is the one that matters to the story.

For more discussion on the book – with SPOILERS – check out Notes & Discussion | Holly by Stephen King. This post has SPOILERS and assumes you have already finished the book. It is password-protected to prevent accidental spoiling. Password is “SPOILME0001”. Proceed at your own risk.

My Feels

This book was so intense, especially towards the end. I was at the edge of my seat and I literally finished more than 50% of the audiobook, about 6-7 hours, in one day because I needed to get to the end. There were parts of it that broke my heart, others that filled me with rage and disgust, and still more that sent shivers down my spine. There were also parts that filled my heart and made me happy. I was worried for Holly, proud of her, exasperated at her, and I love her so, so much.

My Rating

5/5 stars. Was there any doubt?

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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If It Bleeds by Stephen King | Book Review

Posted December 23, 2023 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

If It Bleeds by Stephen King

If it Bleeds is a collection of four new novellas —Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds— each pulling readers into intriguing and frightening places.

A collection of four uniquely wonderful long stories, including a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider.

News people have a saying: ‘If it bleeds, it leads’. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin.

Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog – and on her own need to be more assertive – when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realizes there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins ‘If It Bleeds’ , a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case.

Dancing alongside are three more long stories – ‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’, ‘The Life of Chuck’ and ‘Rat’ .

The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.

The Reason

I probably wouldn’t have picked this book up so soon if it wasn’t because I really wanted to read Holly, and there was a story included in this book, If It Bleeds, that also features Holly, that might’ve been spoiled if I read Holly first. I loved Holly’s story, but the others were really great too!

The Quotes

“My grandmother used to say a person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer. I’ve always thought that was good advice.”

“Love is a gift; love is also a chain with a manacle at each end.”

“Because there really is a second world. It exists because people refuse to believe it’s there.”

“When an old man dies, a library burns.”

“Henry Thoreau said that we don’t own things; things own us. Every new object—whether it’s a home, a car, a television, or a fancy phone like that one—is something more we must carry on our backs.”

The Stories

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
I got sucked in to this story, I loved it so much. I love the connection between Craig and Mr. Harrigan, and how wholesome it was. I still thought their relationship was wholesome throughout the story, even when the story got creepy and sinister. I don’t think I’d mind someone looking out for me, although of course, I don’t condone the methods. It also makes sense that Craig would go to the extreme and ask Mr. Harrigan to take extreme actions because of how volatile emotions can be at that age and in the raw moments. I realized there was a movie starring Jaeden Martell as Craig and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Harrigan, and of course I had to watch it. I thought the movie stayed quite true to the story, and I loved the casting. Such a great story!

The Life of Chuck
This story was confusing at first, but it goes backwards, and the more we find out about Chuck, the more I like him, or the little snippets of things we see about him anyway. I didn’t connect as much with this story, because it’s the shortest one and we don’t go deep into it, but there’s a sense of potential. I wonder how it would fare if King decides to explore Chuck’s life further.

If It Bleeds
This is the title story, and the one that features Holly Gibney. I’ve read The Outsider and I loved it. And I also remember really loving the relationship between Holly and Ralph, but there are a lot of details I don’t remember. I read The Outsider before reading the Mr. Mercedes series, so I didn’t have that context of who she was before, but I still really loved her in The Outsider. This one was really good too, even if it wasn’t a full novel-length story. I love the tension we get between Holly and her mother, and their complex relationship. I feel like King captured their complicated relationship so well; the push-pull of loving her mother yet wanting to get away from her toxicity. I also love how incredibly courageous Holly was – there’s this quote about how courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the thing in spite of the fear, and in that vein, Holly is the most courageous person I’ve ever had the privilege to read about. Holly is such an inspiration and I love her so much.

Rat
Rat was also a really great story and I got sucked into that age-old story of the struggles of being an author, and how writing consumes you. Drew was such an interesting character. I’m not really sure what to think about him; is he a good person? A good husband and father? A good friend? Or was he a horrible and selfish person, and just making “good” choices because he knows they are the “right” ones and not because he wants to? There’s lots of plausible deniability to go around. I also love that distinction of how the rat was an “it” when Drew wanted to kill it, and a “he” when Drew wanted to let him live.

My Thoughts

I love Stephen King and it seems like he just keeps getting better and better every time. I love how nuanced his characters are. I love how he tells the best stories, and how it’s so easy to get immersed in them. I love how he’s aware of writing cliches and points them out, and it works for the story. I love these stories, in this book, and I can’t wait to read more, about Holly Gibney, and about any story King wants to write.

My Feels

I mean, is it not obvious enough? I love the stories. I love the characters. I am in awe of King’s masterful storytelling. I love how the characters came to life, how they were so relatable, how their relationships were portrayed so well. I love how deeply I connected to their human-ness, and that’s everything.

My Rating

5/5 stars. I loved all the stories. The Life of Chuck isn’t the best compared to the other three stories, but they are more than good enough to compensate, and the book as a whole deserves 5/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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