Sarah

I was frightened of everything in the past and whatever was going to happen next.

3.5 stars
This review can also be found on my blog.

This is a short novel that packs quite a punch. The first half feels slow, and a little strange at times, but everything is suddenly turned on its head in the second half. There is so much going on and yet it never seems like too much for the page count. A lot of the writing is very simplistic, which I think works. Had it been more complex, I think it would have been easy to get lost in. It's hard for me to say much about this without spoilers, but I do think this was quite a worthwhile read although I was left wanting. Not a new favorite, but I can see why this has been so highly lauded and perhaps worth an eventual reread to see if that ties things together a bit better.

content warnings: domestic abuse; nazi mentions; homophobia.

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No one was there—or if there was, He/It was cowering from her. God had turned His face away, and why not? This horror was as much His doing as hers.

I've read this at least once before, but it's been years so I figured I'd pick it up before Kayla's community reads The Weight of Blood (inspired by Carrie). I'm happy to say this is probably one of my favorite books by King. There's no unnecessary length (King does tend to be overly wordy) and while there is still some offensive content, it's not as front-and-center as it is in some of his other works. Overall, the story and characterization were wildly compelling. I hadn't remembered the epistolary aspect, which really added to the book. There were a few moments that had me rolling my eyes at King, but as a whole I do recommend this and I'm glad I reread it. I will be excited to pick up a retelling written by a woman, though.

I was just... entirely uninterested. I have difficulties with classics sometimes. Oh well.

Definitely not a new favorite, but there were some standouts in this collection. The Last Rung on the Ladder in particular had me tearing up at the end. I have to give King credit, because even the stories I didn't like were compelling enough for me to zip through them. Sometimes I can struggle with his writing, but it really worked for me here. I did find myself unsatisfied with some of the pieces and as always the fatphobia (etc.) is rough, but overall I did find it worth reading. My average rating for these stories came to 2.74 stars.

Jerusalem's Lot - 3.5 ⭐️
Graveyard Shift 4 ⭐️
Night Surf - 2 ⭐️
I Am The Doorway - 4 ⭐️
The Mangler - 4 ⭐️
The Boogeyman - 3 ⭐️
Gray Matter - 3 ⭐️
Battleground - 2 ⭐️
Trucks - 2 ⭐️
Sometimes They Come Back - 3 ⭐️
Strawberry Spring - 3 ⭐️
The Ledge - 2 ⭐️
The Lawnmower Man - 2 ⭐️
Quitters, Inc - 2 ⭐️
I Know What You Need - 2 ⭐️
Children of the Corn - 3 ⭐️
The Last Rung on the Ladder - 4 ⭐️
The Man Who Loved Flowers - 2 ⭐️
One For The Road - 2.5 ⭐️
The Woman in the Room - 2 ⭐️

I've dnfed this 3x over the last 10 years so maybe I just need to skim it lmao