A review by impasta_syndrome
The Talisman by Peter Straub, Stephen King

dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

1.0

I read this after Fairytale, hoping for another interesting portal fantasy. Throughout the book, I felt it was overall repetitive and filled with characters I didn't connect with. I felt the side characters were more burdens to Jack. They weren't fleshed out, it felt more like they were inserted to stall Jack on his journey than show real connection and character growth. Some of the dark themes seemed... unnecessarily masochistic? TW: child molestation. We get it, the roads are dangerous, but why did we have to encounter so many people that wanted to abuse Jack? Throughout the book, Jack was looking fondly back on The Territories, but for what? It was just as terrible of place as the horrors of the real world. This is one of the first portal fantasies I have read where the portal universe wasn't enjoyable. There was no end to misery.
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