The Institute
Ratings281
Average rating4.1
What an incredible story, I've never been so engrossed in a book. The story follows a little boy who due to sad circumstances ends up in an institute for kids with special abilities. Unfortunately, the kids here are treated more like cattle compared to something Charles Xavier might run. The kids have telekinetic and telepathic powers and these powers are used in the institute to kill targets across the world in order to prevent world-ending calamities. The book follows this young boys journey through the institute and his eventual escape from it...
Entertaining page-turner with the typical focus on children and King's trademark storytelling. It may be a guilty pleasure, but there's no denying it is a pleasure. He has the occasional misfire, but King's output is remarkably consistent, and remains at a high level.
This is the first book I have read by Steven King but it really didn't make me wanna read more of his work. First off the times the breasts of a female character were discribed for no reason is way to many. Even the fucking kids my guy.
The story in the beginning was also slow as fuck. Just 250 pages of kids being abused. Like idk if this is supposed to be horror or thiller of whatever but it was just sad and nothing else. Zero suspense. The story also took exclusively very predictable turns and was pretty boring overal.
The character discriptions were also just so weird. This whole book made me feel uncomfortable and not in a good way, it was boring and went on for way to long. Not a fan
This one starts and ends strong but kind of lags in the middle. While I liked it well enough, it's definitely one of the lesser King things I've read.
I don't even know where to start, it was such a good read! The dialog between the children felt a little awkward at first, but the book moves on quickly and it's tough to put down once the story gets rolling.
If you like Stephen King you'll like this book. If you've never read Stephen King you could start here and be happy.
Such a strong story. Just kept pulling you forward. It reminded me a little to some of The Stranger Things episodes on Netflix.
Parts of this were very good. King excels at writing kids. Luke and his friends and the other kids at the Institute are believable and engaging. They're worthy heroes of this supernatural thriller, and probably the only truly scary thing about the book.
I also enjoyed Tim Jamison and the other residents of Dupray, South Carolina. King sets up the drifter character of Tim very cleverly; you're not sure at first whether or not he's trustworthy. The story of him proving himself, getting his backstory, and finding a new place for himself in Dupray is satisfying. Also, the scene where the citizens of Dupray rush to the rescue of the Sheriff's office, all of them packing heat to defend their town, is one of the best moments of the book.
Where The Institute lost me was with Mrs. Sigsby and her sadistic slacker employees. These characters aren't that menacing or even interesting. We spend a lot of time with them, especially when they're on the hunt for an escapee and we see every step of their process. I have a feeling that if we knew less about them, they would seem more powerful somehow.
The mismatch of the heroes and villains is a problem if you're trying to create any feelings of suspense and excitement about the conflict.
This is a return to form from King. There are several standard King themes - children with wisdom and special powers serving the central plot and evil corporations/government agencies. But its not the appearance of familiar King themes that make it a return to form. It's an energy to the writing, and a leanness to the plot, that make it a fun book to read. It's above average King. It's not in the top tier, but it's much better than Sleeping Beauties or than the Bill Hodges trilogy.
I thought this was the best King I'd read in a long while, but then I think what are the other recent ones, and Mr. Mercedes was pretty darn good (it's 2 sequels were good but not great), and 11/22/63 was excellent as well. So just another really good Stephen King book then.
Stephen King at his best. It's not quite up there with 22/11/63 but the relatively quick pace and great characters really hit the spot. It's ripe for an adaptation but maybe Stanger Things has beaten them to to it.
This was excellent. A return to his roots with Running Man, etc. Loved it. Will read it again, most likely. Truly thrilling, in-depth, and with an ending that felt fulfilling.
During the first 10-15% of this book, I was thinking that this would be a SK miss for me, but then I really started to get into the story.
This felt like a 80's Stephen King and I really enjoyed it.
There were some details that made me feel like the story dragged a little, but I definitely recommend this book.
So far I've been hit or miss with Stephen King's novels. Pretty much split down the middle. 50-50. This one did not do it for me. I don't know if it was the chapter length or what but I just could NOT connect to the story or characters.
Fine little book, even if it reminds me of an update of Firestarter (though it's much better than that book).
It's maybe not for people who can't handle kids in peril, but there isn't any horror or gross-out scenes, so most people should be able to enjoy it.
The cover is the best thing about this brick of a novel. Utterly boring and predictable from first to last page. Pretty sure King churned out this one without waking up.
If I cry it's a 4 star at a minimum and King made it happen. That Avery kid will forever be my favourite
2.5 stars!!!
been weirdly interested in “trouble teen programs” and this book felt like it took a lot of inspiration from those schools. it was great to see the kids get their revenge but it still felt just ok...
Conflicted rating. The Institute opens with the adult male Tim, following his journey to a backwater American town for the first 30+ pages. Then the story cuts away to the equally intriguing (but in a different manner) story of 12 year-old genius Luke, who then becomes the novel's protagonist as he is taken to the eponymous Institute. Whilst their stories do collide in the novel's third act, I felt like much of this winding book amounted to not a lot - I'm not sure what King is saying politically about America (in particular Trump voters, and gun laws), and the Stranger Things sci-fi vibe was thrilling at parts but oh so very long. The description was rich, but I couldn't understand why Luke's intelligence was correlated to him being the one to “unleash hell” when there was such an interesting supporting cast - James Avery, Nick, Kalisha, Maureen - helping him. I definitely plan on reading more Stephen King novels, but perhaps this was pitched towards an older, or less SF-experienced audience.
“Great events turn on small hinges.”
Absolutely LOVED this! My first Stephen King novel did not disappoint, great characters, vivid scenes and one hell of a story! Plus the most badass 10 year old ever! Go Avester
If only he had a massive collection of works for me to check out
“... Pero no hubo palabras, tal vez ni hacían falta. Como tampoco telepatía.
A veces un abrazo era telepatía.”
[b:The Institute 43798285 The Institute Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549241208l/43798285.SY75.jpg 68147322] Still One of My GreatsI have to tell you I am the biggest Stephen King fan but if you read my reviews regularly you know that right. King writes so well about the innocence of kids. He also writes at his best when the subject is pure evil. Think about what “IT” is all about. When you take pure evil and innocent kids and you slap them together and you have the magic of The Institute. The book starts in a simple little town where a cop passing through takes a job as a night knocker. There's a kid, a really smart kid, who's 12 years old and getting ready to attend MIT because he's, you know, special. That's the setting. From there it gets chilling. Even without ghosts, or vampires or outer space boogie men.The child, Luke, is taken in the middle of the night. His folks are murdered. He wakes up at The Institute in Maine in a room that's just like his - almost. There are other kids there and he gets the skinny from a young girl in the hallway, seemingly smoking a cigarette. She tells him that they “do stuff” to the kids, injections-flickering lights-dunking, but at least they're in the Front Half. You don't want to go to the Back Half. No, that's like the roach motel. Kids go in and don't ever come out.To say this is a character study of the people throughout history who have told themselves that the horrible, hideous, atrocious things they do are for a “higher good”. This book is King at his best. It's tense and I found myself ill at ease throughout the 500 plus pages. But it's good. A good story, good writing, and yeah, sure, it's relevant in the America of today and about our choices. This is going to be one of those books that I rotate through at least once a year. Five stars all the way.
“It came to him, with the force of a revelation, that you had to have been imprisoned to fully understand what freedom was.”
I wanted to love The Institute... for parts of the novel I really did, but the overall feeling when I finished the last page was “Meh”.
The characters build interesting relationships but you never see enough of them together to get truly invested, King has a real talent for throwing kids together and making you love them and there dynamic, The Institute didn't have that (in my opinion).
Also, the ending felt too easy. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Institutes around the world have been running for 50+ years yet Luke and his friends are the first ones to group together and combine their powers? In 50+ years no one else had that idea? I get Luke being super smart but that's not a super-smart call, its basic power in numbers.
Is The Institue worth a read? Hell yea, is it a good book? You bet it is. Is it one of King's best? Nope, not for me.
“Watch out for men in black cars.”