Giu
Precise rating: 2.5 ⭐
I'm so disappointed! The writing was beautiful as expected, but the story – though an exciting premise – felt really flat and shallow. I couldn't connect to the characters and the pacing felt weird. Thematically, I was reminded of Call Me by Your Name a few times, but without the same impact that book had had on me.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
As an audiobook it was very entertaining. I can imagine it to be a bit slow at times had I read it myself. The ending was very King-esque: kinda random and anticlimactic.
I felt like the story lost a lot of weight due to the fact that people were basically in a trance when doing the pranks for Gaunt. It wasn't really about how far people would go to fulfil their hearts' desire. Though the ending felt like exactly that was what King intended the story to be. And it just wasn't.
So instead of a deep story criticising consumerism or whatever – which it could've been – it was just a pulpy, entertaning novel. That's fine, I like that, but let's drop the pretence, I'd say. ^^
