Lisey's Story

Stephen King is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while. He is an absolute legend for how strong and prolific his bibliography is, and many people I trust list him as one of their top writers. At the same time I’ve always been intimidated by him due to the sheer volume of his work. Luckily I was given this for free and thus I can now say that I’ve read a Stephen King novel.

I’m glad to have done it too! Lisey’s Story is just a really cool read. It goes from heart-warming to terrifying to tear jerking very seamlessly. One of the things I’ve always heard in terms of King’s writing is how good he is at writing characters. After reading this I can certainly see why. He has a really firm grasp on every main character here to the point that it feels like they actually exist. The strength of his characters allows the bizarre plot to progress in a compelling way. King’s use of imagery is also fantastic, particularly when describing the surreal world known as Boo’Ya Moon. It feels like something straight out of the Twilight Zone and I’m sure I’ll see it in my dreams (and nightmares) for weeks to come.

There are weaknesses to this book. The main thing is that King really exaggerates accents to the point that I’m not even sure what I’m reading. I don’t think this book needs all the accents. There are also points where King lingers a bit too long on certain scenes. This book is over 500 pages but it could have been 450 with minimal issues. I don’t think the book is poorly edited, I just think some plot points didn’t need to drag on as long as they did.

I don’t know if I’ll be making another trip to Castle Rock, but my first time there was a very good one.