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3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Read because my dad told me to.
Rating: 4/5
Started: 9 December
Finished: 13 December
Summary:
Tim doesn't know why he suddenly got off his plane and hitchhiked all the way to DuPray, South Carolina. But he did, and now he's the night knocker on the tiny police force there. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing there, really. But he's already made a difference in a few small ways, and something bigger is going to happen soon.
Luke knows exactly why his parents were killed and he was kidnapped and taken to a testing facility for children. It's not because he's a child genius (12 and ready to dual-enroll at two colleges), but instead because he can sometimes flip empty pizza pans off the table. It's not for his smarts, it's because he's a telekinetic, and at the Institute, they will torture him with shots and lights and drownings in order to bring his powers out more strongly, so they can send him the Back Half of the institute for some unknown work that he is certain he will not survive.
But while the doctors are heartless and the nurses sadistic, Maureen, the cleaning lady, is not. After Luke helps her figure out her debt, she in turn helps him with a plan to escape. He must risk his life escaping, and then again going back: To save his friend, to stop the Institute, to free all the children in the Back Half from their unending torture. And when he escapes, where does he end up? DuPray, South Carolina.
Thoughts:
This book was super long but fascinating. I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King's writing—It's not flowery at all, and there are so. many. details. that are shared, not all of which feel necessary. But his characters not being romanticized at all, which usually also annoys me, was actually kind of cool. It was about these random people who, just by fate, really, ended up in insane circumstances, and needed to react. There were no pieces of the writing itself that made me think, oh, this is beautiful, or perfect, or brilliant. But looking back at the book as a whole, it was perfect and brilliant. Every character was who they needed to be, and every setting was necessary. The book was engaging and exciting the entire time, which was fascinating. Usually even the most action-focused books have boring parts, but every single moment, regardless of how random it was, felt important. I haven't read a lot of books where I get that sense, and definitely not on the first read.
The book was long, and the length did make it feel like it was dragging, just because I am used to finishing books far more quickly, but the plot itself never dragged. All of the conversations felt interesting and, as rote as this sounds, I desperately wanted to know more in every scene. One impression that I got was that this book was more like a play than anything else. Not only because of the interest and suspense, but because of the fact that every character and setting adhered to the theory of Chekhov's Gun. There was no person who was mentioned and then not used. There was no setting that was unimportant. And I think that made the book feel closer, more visceral, and more urgent overall.
The end was also surprisingly sad. Avery dying and everyone leaving was super sad, and the kids loosing their powers was even more sad. I freaking hate that trope. It upsets the heck out of me. But Stephen King's note at the end was sadder. It was about his friend, beta reader, and research assistant, who died. It almost made me cry. It was so sad. If I get to pick a few people to write eulogies for me, I would absolutely pick him. It made me more emotional than the whole book together.
I intend to read more Stephen King books. This book was technically classified as horror, but I was never scared. It was more disturbing and unsettling than horror, and even those emotions were not long-lasting. I want to read one of his books that really makes me feel something.
Anyways, I'm very glad that I read this book, and I'm excited to read more of his work in the future.