Revival

I read this because I really loved Doctor Sleep, and found 11/22/63 compelling if imperfect. So I thought King might have his groove back. Plus, everyone told me this definitely had Lovecraftian themes. Sounded good!

I found it decidedly meh. The first three-quarters of the book is cumbersome setup that utterly failed to impart a sense of building doom, eldritch horror, or any real interest for me. All the horror in that section is confined to real-life, tragic headline sorts of horror, and that may work for some people, but it's definitely not what I'm looking for in my weird fiction.

King does eventually deliver on the Lovecraftian theme, with a concept that is admittedly very horrifying. But I found it undercut by his use of one element. No spoilers, but he did something that he literally wrote about as a weak point in horror in Danse Macabre, and so it kind of made me laugh, rather than shudder.

If you like Lovecraft, King's short stories “Jerusalem's Lot,” “N,” and even “Crouch End” are far superior, in my humble opinion.

It's been a few months since I read Revival and I still find myself thinking about it. This is the kind of book that crawls into your mind and finds a home there, rearing its wonderfully ugly head on occasion to remind you of the horrors contained within its pages. Most of my favorite King books are from his “heyday” in the '70s and '80s, but I think this one might just be lying in wait, ready to dethrone It as my all time favorite. Absolutely required reading for any horror fan.

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com

I was really disappointed with this book. It was slow, boring and I didn't care for the characters. It felt like it would have worked better as a novella rather than a full length story. However, the final 30 pages were fantastic. Like classic terrifying Stephen King. I was told that the ending was very H. P. Lovecraft however I haven't read any of his work so cannot confirm this. But this ending gave me a lot of trouble in trying to rate the book. While the end is brilliant it still does not – in my opinion – make paying full price for this book worthwhile.

A good King, but not his best. Not his worst either. There are a few tropes that have been met before in pop culture such as the mad scientist trope and the whole lightning vibe Frankenstein movies have. As for Steohen King tropes, there are a few that I've seen in some of his previous novels, but not all of them were that bad. We have an old person that falls in love with someone younger, but that's not even the entire plot of the book. For a second I thought this would have been the fourth time when this happened in a King novel i read, but it was fine. The final plot twist was a tad different from what I was expecting, but overall a really solid modern horror read. I could compare it with Frankenstein because duh, lightning and corpses, and with Lovecraft's story, Herbert West reanimator. Again, this one is more of a 3.5 stars too.

It's a return to form by King. Got the audio book. Highly recommended. Steven Morse did a great job reading the book. Have some patience on the first half for the book. It's sentimental (in a King way) and some may think it's drags the books down. I thought it just set everything up for the second half, which drives straight into familiar territory. I even liked the ending....which is a rare thing for this author. In the upper tier of the King libary.

It's been a long time since I've been properly, jaw-dropping horrified by a novel. For all that Stephen King is known for less than stellar endings, this one he knocks out of the damn park; and while I can quibble that he slightly overdoes the full-circle callback stuff in the last third...screw it, this book earned it, with not another weak spot in sight. Emotionally and thematically resonant throughout, this is my favorite King novel by miles.

Not nearly as tense or “spooky” as I was expecting. As a matter of fact the ending is quite weak. But, besides that, it's still a great piece of Reading, quite light and easy to read, and it gets you hooked from the first moment. Maybe this is why the ending seems so weak: the rest of the book is so engaging that this lack of final punch leaves you with some weird after taste, a sensation that it could have been so much more.

Nicely written novel about life, downfall and rise of main character, with subtle hints of horror..until the end, when it goes into full horror mode. One of the better endings, not because it is surprising and shocking, but because it leaves you thinking about it...and in fear of it. ‘Cause what's more scarier than unknown and what's more unknown than life beyond?

This was a decent book, but it definitely reflected the age of the author. Lots of nostalgia is indulged in, which kind of makes the story drag a little bit. But, the main story line itself is pretty decent. If it had been reduced down to a short story, something King used to be so good at, this would have been an excellent read.

One of the most disturbing coming of age stories I've read in a while - loved the minor reference to [b:Joyland 13596166 Joyland Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348154483s/13596166.jpg 19185026]. I had to take away a star because a few parts were a bit too long winded for my taste. Overall, a very solid and enjoyable read.