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katuoo7's review against another edition
4.0
Very detailed story with an elaborate cast. There was a lot of picture to paint before Holly from Finders Keepers could be brought in but it was still sad to wait for the halfway point (50% according to Goodreads) for her to enter the story.
tuckeralmengor's review against another edition
4.0
[10/17/2019] - the trailer has been released!!!
༼(∩ ͡°╭͜ʖ╮͡ ͡°)༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟLINK
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AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT'S BECOMING A SHOW I CANNOT CONTAIN MYHORROR GLEE
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We all know I have conflicted feelings concerning Stephen King. I loved IT but I hated The Mist and The Shining. So Stephen King is really a hit or miss author for me. Every time, I pick up one of his books, I know I'm going to either hate it or love it. Fortunately, I loved it this time!
As it always is with King, the Outsider was really slow in the beginning. I don't know why most authors can't seem to get that right. Is it so hard to write an exciting beginning? Maybe it is. I'm not author. But every one should be able to pick things up by the middle mark. Not the case this time. I would have DNF-ed except that this is a review copy and I hate dnfing review copies because that discredits trust with publishers. Plus I hate the feeling of being defeated by ink and paper.
Even though I enjoyed the book as a whole, I really didn't like that it almost switched genres mid-book. The first half felt like a courtroom drama/mystery and the second half felt like a sci-fi horror story. I enjoyed both halves but they felt like they were from two different books. It was established from the beginning that this was a different sort of mystery but randomly they added the sci-fi aspect. It felt like it almost didn't belong.
Another thing, there were soo many characters. I was only able to connect with Holly. She was timid yet bold, serious yet funny all at the same time. By far, my favorite King character. I got all the male detectives mixed up. Way too many of those guys. I really enjoyed reading Jack's progressive journey to insanity.
The theory of The Outsider was so interesting that I actually researched it myself. As was briefly mentioned in the book, the Outsider was based on a (hopefully) mythical creature named El Cuco which is Spanish for The Cuckoo. Creepy. According to Wikipedia, it is a boogeyman like creature that takes children who misbehave. It has the ability to change forms. There is a female version named El Cuca. All in all, I enjoyed the idea of the Outsider. I wish there was more explanation to what he was and how he worked.
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for a review copy
Bottom Line:
4 Stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (Extreme Gore, Rape, Murder, Scary Themes)
TW: ⚠Rape and murder both of which are very gory and explicit⚠
Cover: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3.5/5
For Fans Of: It
| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
༼(∩ ͡°╭͜ʖ╮͡ ͡°)༽⊃━☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟLINK
*************
AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT'S BECOMING A SHOW I CANNOT CONTAIN MY
*************
We all know I have conflicted feelings concerning Stephen King. I loved IT but I hated The Mist and The Shining. So Stephen King is really a hit or miss author for me. Every time, I pick up one of his books, I know I'm going to either hate it or love it. Fortunately, I loved it this time!
As it always is with King, the Outsider was really slow in the beginning. I don't know why most authors can't seem to get that right. Is it so hard to write an exciting beginning? Maybe it is. I'm not author. But every one should be able to pick things up by the middle mark. Not the case this time. I would have DNF-ed except that this is a review copy and I hate dnfing review copies because that discredits trust with publishers. Plus I hate the feeling of being defeated by ink and paper.
Even though I enjoyed the book as a whole, I really didn't like that it almost switched genres mid-book. The first half felt like a courtroom drama/mystery and the second half felt like a sci-fi horror story. I enjoyed both halves but they felt like they were from two different books. It was established from the beginning that this was a different sort of mystery but randomly they added the sci-fi aspect. It felt like it almost didn't belong.
Another thing, there were soo many characters. I was only able to connect with Holly. She was timid yet bold, serious yet funny all at the same time. By far, my favorite King character. I got all the male detectives mixed up. Way too many of those guys. I really enjoyed reading Jack's progressive journey to insanity.
The theory of The Outsider was so interesting that I actually researched it myself. As was briefly mentioned in the book, the Outsider was based on a (hopefully) mythical creature named El Cuco which is Spanish for The Cuckoo. Creepy. According to Wikipedia, it is a boogeyman like creature that takes children who misbehave. It has the ability to change forms. There is a female version named El Cuca. All in all, I enjoyed the idea of the Outsider. I wish there was more explanation to what he was and how he worked.
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for a review copy
Bottom Line:
4 Stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (Extreme Gore, Rape, Murder, Scary Themes)
TW: ⚠Rape and murder both of which are very gory and explicit⚠
Cover: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3.5/5
For Fans Of: It
| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
lafonck's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
evenmessage's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
booksandapril's review against another edition
2.0
I’ve been reading The Outsider by Stephen King for three days. I made it to page 362 before I just had to stop! The idea of the book pulled me in, but the execution just did not do it for me. It honestly reminded me of an extremely watered down version of Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky!
Rating: ★ ★/☆ ☆ ☆
DNF at 61%
~slight spoilers ahead~
This book follows the investigation of the brutal sexual assault and murder of a boy in a small town. After the local baseball coach is accused and arrested, shit hits the wall. Sounds interesting right, not so much. After he is arrested, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that he was not even in town during the time of the murder. I didn’t mind when the detectives started talking about erasing this evidence. I didn’t mind when multiple main characters seemed to be murdered out of convenience. But I just had to stop when after 362 pages in, we’re randomly introduced to the idea of there being some supernatural force at play. Like dang, I was barely hanging on and now this comes out of nowhere. I was planning on giving this book three stars before the supernatural element was introduced but now I feel like it definitely deserves two.
Rating: ★ ★/☆ ☆ ☆
DNF at 61%
~slight spoilers ahead~
This book follows the investigation of the brutal sexual assault and murder of a boy in a small town. After the local baseball coach is accused and arrested, shit hits the wall. Sounds interesting right, not so much. After he is arrested, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that he was not even in town during the time of the murder. I didn’t mind when the detectives started talking about erasing this evidence. I didn’t mind when multiple main characters seemed to be murdered out of convenience. But I just had to stop when after 362 pages in, we’re randomly introduced to the idea of there being some supernatural force at play. Like dang, I was barely hanging on and now this comes out of nowhere. I was planning on giving this book three stars before the supernatural element was introduced but now I feel like it definitely deserves two.
remjunior's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Not bad, but not great. The premise is cool, but King is no Harlan Coben. It's like...Coben-lite with supernatural twists. I think the HBO show improved on the book massively but even that fell apart near the latter third.
In some ways, it feels like King is just churning out books and isn't trying very hard. That's probably presumptuous, but this book just felt so rote and nothing worth loving. Like, I can't imagine anyone who has read King novels saying this is their favorite or even top 10.
So, yeah. Meh. That's how I feel. Not good, not bad, just meh.
In some ways, it feels like King is just churning out books and isn't trying very hard. That's probably presumptuous, but this book just felt so rote and nothing worth loving. Like, I can't imagine anyone who has read King novels saying this is their favorite or even top 10.
So, yeah. Meh. That's how I feel. Not good, not bad, just meh.
klimetzh's review against another edition
3.0
I really WANTED to give this 4 or 5 stars - the first half had me totally hooked, but it felt like we were treading water for the last half. By the time we made it to the actual climax, I was so impatient to get there it felt like a letdown. Very very interesting concept and has definitely inspired me to read some more Stephen King, but I liked Sleeping Beauties much better.