Reviews

If half stars were available, I'd give this a 4.5
Summer Of Night may never escape the comparisons it gets to a little book that Stephen King wrote called IT. Both books involve a group of friends in a small town who must confront an evil force. Both books have oblivious parents and authority figures who are too wrapped up in their own problems to notice. And both books have sequences where the friends fight against the evil using unorthodox and even 'home alone' style tactics and tools.
But this is definitely a book that stands on its own, and goes down as one of Dan Simmons' best, IMO. You care about these kids. You care about what's happening in the town. There is a mystery and history-defining conspiracy that you want solved just as much as the kids do.
On the horror side, the creature scenes are great. They are gross, they are unsettling, they make you want to watch where you step or check what might be squirming around in the basement while you're not looking. In other words; it's horror.
My only real criticism is with the human agents of the evil force. There are a number of townsfolk who are acting on the evil force's behalf, and yet they are almost non-characters. They are there, but you only know what they are like from the way the kids talk about them. I don't even recall reading a single line of dialogue coming from any of them, almost like they were props rather than characters. But their scenes were still great, where they were also antagonists the kids needed to deal with.
Overall one of the best horror books I've read this year.
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painkiller's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

n0s4a2's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

runjohnnyrun845's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

checkplease's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 Stars

moerod's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.75

Kinda slow at the beginning, but still some creeps, been wanting to read this, heat second half.of book, scary, gory, sad, action, great read

tenekecik's review against another edition

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3.0

A weak 3.5 stars.

I started this book after watching "Stranger Things" on Netflix and wanting to read a horror story with a coming-of-age theme... something like It by Stephen King.

In that regard, the book was more or less satisfying but the first few hundred pages were very slow burn. I don't usually mind it, and perhaps I wasn't in the mood, but those parts failed to give that coming-of-age vibe… instead they felt bloated. Some rigorous editing would do wonders for the first half.

I think I'll just re-read Stephen Kin's It.

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