Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - 11/22/63

To be honest if this wasn't written by Stephen King it would have been one of my rare DNFs.
But I kept going because hos books so often start slow building a base for the action, this was the first of his books I finished still thinking it was boring.

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savage_book_review's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was my first ever Stephen King book, and I had no idea what to expect going in. I picked it up purely on the basis that I liked the premise, and just hoped that I wasn't being fooled into reading a horror story (definitely not my genre of choice!). At best, I was expecting to read it, shrug and unhaul it. But oh, my goodness, what a book. This has more than earned a place on my bookshelf; I am totally blown away by this absolute masterpiece.

For me, it's not so much about the overarching plot of trying to save JFK that makes this stand out. Instead, it's the attention to detail which vividly brings this man's journey to life, both in terms of the factual elements - tracing Lee Harvey Oswald's life in the lead up to the fateful day is fascinating in and if itself - but also the seamless weaving in of the fictional characters and their goings-on to 'harmonise' the past. It's so very easy to fall down your own rabbit hole and come to believe in these characters; it really wouldn't take much to convince me that George Amberson/Jake Epping did actually write his story, and Stephen King is just 'the face'.

The concept of time travel might be sci-fi, but the writing makes it effortless to just 'go with it'. There's no real explanation as to where this hole in the world came from or why it exists, but there wasn't a single point where I didn't accept the position as plausible. The plot device just works. The exploration of the butterfly effect and the repercussions of George/Jake's actions do drag you into a type of dystopia, and I love how enough detail is given to allow you to understand exactly what has happened, while leaving enough to the imagination to have you thinking of the consequences for a long time after you put the book down. In turn, it inevitably leads to you questioning what you would do if you had the same or a similar opportunity.

There are some very dark moments throughout, with depictions of murder and domestic violence being important to the story. In some cases it's quite graphic, but it's not gratuitous and these moments are truly gripping to read. They're also important to our main character's development as he learns about the world he's now inhabiting and how the rabbit hole works.

Even in the quieter moments though, he writing remains engaging. I wouldn't say it's a fast paced book, and certainly there are plenty of more 'domestic' interludes that by all accounts should drag, but every moment is beautifully and thoughfully written and really digs into your psyche. I adore the romantic element - definitely not something I was expecting in a Stephen King book! - and to be honest I almost stopped caring about the world in jeopardy! And when the main character finds his 'people', the book develops a sweet small town cozy feel, albeit with shadows looming...

I'll admit to wanting a different ending, but the one we got is absolutely fitting, if heart-wrenching .

I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone.

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katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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balamaqab's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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newswoman's review against another edition

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from the introduction of the love interest onwards i felt a gradual decline in my enjoyment of the book as i am not a fan of how the romance is written at all. i really liked the beginning a lot but the the main character is very hard to like in my opinion, which gets worse and worse as the story progresses.

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bookishchaos's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Four stars because for the most part, I did enjoy this but I was ready for it to be over by 60%.
This book is LONG, over 800 pages. For the first 400, I was actually quite liking the story, but it became very repetitive. And the love interest was boring and needed more development.
if this is your first SK novel, I wouldn't recommend it.

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