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eesh25's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
I've almost dreaded writing this review. I've definitely avoided it. Because there are a lot of things about the book that I like, or even love. But the things I dislike are kinda... complicated. And I have to ask myself if they supersede the positives? Or if the positives make up for them? And am I overlooking the things I found bothersome by giving the book a positive rating and review? Safe to say, the rating wasn't easy to choose. So I'm going to start with something I have no mixed feelings about, which is the narration.
Steven Webber did an extraordinary job of narrating this book. There are full-cast recordings that I didn't enjoy as much as I did this one. There is just so much personality to every single character. And the choices that were made in how every line is said, what emotion goes with it, which word gets emphasized, which one is louder, which one quieter... And don't even get me started on how fucking creepy and menacing the voice of It is. Seriously, the narrator and director of this audio can't be praised enough.
And now, we move on to the more complicated portion of the review. Complicated for me, at least. I'm gonna start with the positives.
I know that a few readers have said that the book is too long or too full of unnecessary details. And while I can't dispute the book being long, I didn't find it unnecessarily so. The book moves between past and present, with the main characters as seven children encountering a supernatural force, and then as six adults returning to kill the monster that they thought they killed twenty-seven years ago. They made a promise to come back if It came back, and that's what they're doing.
But before we see them reunite, we get to know them, as children. We see what they faced, how they become friends, why they're the ones to face It, and why they need to return. And this backstory covers a large portion of the book before, and after, the reunion. And it's this backstory that gives the reunion it's significance. If we didn't know these characters and what they went through, their return wouldn't have as big of an impact. And that's kind of the entire reason for the length of the book: Impact. Because every story we hear about a one-off character or a town event, it shows us how big the problem is in the town of Derry. And how powerful It is. Which, in turn, gives gravity to the task that was, and has been again, undertaken by the main characters. And I love how King makes the reader feel the enormity of the situation.
I also love the role that the town of Derry plays. Until I read the book, all I'd heard was that It was a story about an evil clown called Pennywise, and that's so not it. There's so much more it It than a dumb clown. It's genuinely frightening. And also completely disgusting, which I hadn't expected.
Now to the parts that I don't... agree with, you might say. And here the word unnecessary comes back. No, I still don't think the book was longer than it should've been. But there were parts of it that barely contributed anything to the story or the "impact". There were scenes with dialogue and descriptions that were crass and crude just for the sake of being that way. Maybe it was some method of shocking the reader. And honestly, I'd prefer atmospheric tension over a monster with its face falling off offering to give an eleven-year-old a blowjob.
Then there was a scene toward the end that crossed a line for me. It was disturbing, inappropriate and gross. And what's worse is that, if that scene has been removed entirely, not a single thing in the book would have changed.
Last but not least, the Beverly issue. Beverly is the only female MC in the book, and no one seems to be able to get over the fact that she's female. She's sexualized a lot. She's constantly described as being very beautiful—and I do mean constantly—and the inappropriate scene I mentioned above also has to do with how she's treated as a character. Something that irked me somewhat as I was listening to the book, and bothers me even more as I think back on it.
Finally, and I hate to say it because I want King to be better than this, but Beverly is a female character written by a male author who sees her as a female character rather than just one of the characters. And it kinda pissed me off.
But I don't wanna get into that. The review is long enough, so this is where I'm signing off. But before I do, I know I never ask this, but I wanna know what you thought of the book if you've read it. Or if you haven't, then how you feel about reviewing/rating a book that you have such diverging opinions toward? To what extent does good storytelling make up for something that you don't think is right? Does it at all?
I've almost dreaded writing this review. I've definitely avoided it. Because there are a lot of things about the book that I like, or even love. But the things I dislike are kinda... complicated. And I have to ask myself if they supersede the positives? Or if the positives make up for them? And am I overlooking the things I found bothersome by giving the book a positive rating and review? Safe to say, the rating wasn't easy to choose. So I'm going to start with something I have no mixed feelings about, which is the narration.
Steven Webber did an extraordinary job of narrating this book. There are full-cast recordings that I didn't enjoy as much as I did this one. There is just so much personality to every single character. And the choices that were made in how every line is said, what emotion goes with it, which word gets emphasized, which one is louder, which one quieter... And don't even get me started on how fucking creepy and menacing the voice of It is. Seriously, the narrator and director of this audio can't be praised enough.
And now, we move on to the more complicated portion of the review. Complicated for me, at least. I'm gonna start with the positives.
I know that a few readers have said that the book is too long or too full of unnecessary details. And while I can't dispute the book being long, I didn't find it unnecessarily so. The book moves between past and present, with the main characters as seven children encountering a supernatural force, and then as six adults returning to kill the monster that they thought they killed twenty-seven years ago. They made a promise to come back if It came back, and that's what they're doing.
But before we see them reunite, we get to know them, as children. We see what they faced, how they become friends, why they're the ones to face It, and why they need to return. And this backstory covers a large portion of the book before, and after, the reunion. And it's this backstory that gives the reunion it's significance. If we didn't know these characters and what they went through, their return wouldn't have as big of an impact. And that's kind of the entire reason for the length of the book: Impact. Because every story we hear about a one-off character or a town event, it shows us how big the problem is in the town of Derry. And how powerful It is. Which, in turn, gives gravity to the task that was, and has been again, undertaken by the main characters. And I love how King makes the reader feel the enormity of the situation.
I also love the role that the town of Derry plays. Until I read the book, all I'd heard was that It was a story about an evil clown called Pennywise, and that's so not it. There's so much more it It than a dumb clown. It's genuinely frightening. And also completely disgusting, which I hadn't expected.
Now to the parts that I don't... agree with, you might say. And here the word unnecessary comes back. No, I still don't think the book was longer than it should've been. But there were parts of it that barely contributed anything to the story or the "impact". There were scenes with dialogue and descriptions that were crass and crude just for the sake of being that way. Maybe it was some method of shocking the reader. And honestly, I'd prefer atmospheric tension over a monster with its face falling off offering to give an eleven-year-old a blowjob.
Then there was a scene toward the end that crossed a line for me. It was disturbing, inappropriate and gross. And what's worse is that, if that scene has been removed entirely, not a single thing in the book would have changed.
Last but not least, the Beverly issue. Beverly is the only female MC in the book, and no one seems to be able to get over the fact that she's female. She's sexualized a lot. She's constantly described as being very beautiful—and I do mean constantly—and the inappropriate scene I mentioned above also has to do with how she's treated as a character. Something that irked me somewhat as I was listening to the book, and bothers me even more as I think back on it.
Finally, and I hate to say it because I want King to be better than this, but Beverly is a female character written by a male author who sees her as a female character rather than just one of the characters. And it kinda pissed me off.
But I don't wanna get into that. The review is long enough, so this is where I'm signing off. But before I do, I know I never ask this, but I wanna know what you thought of the book if you've read it. Or if you haven't, then how you feel about reviewing/rating a book that you have such diverging opinions toward? To what extent does good storytelling make up for something that you don't think is right? Does it at all?
arvaive's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
look. there are many problems with this book. i don't like the way the story treated bev (or any of its women, for that matter). the racist voices were annoying. the number of slurs used at times (particularly the n-word) made me feel like i was reading tarantino. The Scene, as we all know, was pretty weird and unpleasant to read as an adult. there's a lot of random filler that could have easily been cut and taken at least 100 pages off the thing. it's absolutely a book written by a man who was zoinked out of his gourd.
BUT. but. no book that can make me cry this hard can be worth any less than 4 stars.
i wasn't even particularly scared of pennywise, man– the truest horror for me in this bookcomes from the last last couple of chapters, in which the losers forget each other . that's the scariest shit in the world to me. when, in the final derry interlude, mike ends his notes by telling the other losers, whom he can at this point barely remember, how much he loves them , i genuinely felt sick to my stomach. this book had me sobbing for an hour after finishing it and i'm still crying a little bit even now. holy mother of god. worth every bit of discomfort in the end, even though this end has left me feeling like i'm about to throw up and/or fall to pieces any second now. i'll probably look back on this and think i'm being overdramatic, but right now that's exactly how it feels. jesus.
if i may leave you all with a quote:
BUT. but. no book that can make me cry this hard can be worth any less than 4 stars.
i wasn't even particularly scared of pennywise, man– the truest horror for me in this book
if i may leave you all with a quote:
You don’t have to look back to see those children; part of your mind will see them forever, live with them forever, love with them forever. They are not necessarily the best part of you, but they were once the repository of all you could become.
and remember: you can't be careful on a skateboard, friends.
sylviaisme's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Rape and Physical abuse
Minor: Racism
amandairene's review against another edition
4.0
Last book of 2019! This one was so long it counts as at least 3 books
csankecskekuki's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
5.0
jnesbitt1989's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it enough to finish, but it dragged some and was really bloated.
akash_ghani's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
zachnachazel's review against another edition
4.0
It is finished! This daunting read is one that I think everyone should take. With that said, I expected more. Where other King books leave me unable to fall asleep and put the book down needing to read the next chapter, It, did not. A month of reading is only broken up by a few harrowing moments where I couldn't stop without knowing what happened.
With that said, I greatly enjoyed the style of writing utilized in this book and greatly enjoyed it.
With that said, I greatly enjoyed the style of writing utilized in this book and greatly enjoyed it.
jaycereadss's review against another edition
5.0
New favorite book, new fear unlocked.
A fun story about cute birthday clowns. WRONG!!
Hang on for this LOOOOONG review!
“The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years-if it ever did end-began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”
“We all float down here!”
Any time that Derry's Dancing Clown (also known as Pennywise) said anything to the members of The Looser's Club I would have chills running down my spine.
Many people: "Well, Stephen King is not scary."
Me: *Hands them a copy of IT*, "Let me know what your thoughts are after this masterpiece of a novel."
4.95/5 OF THIS BOOK IS SPOILER-FREE, AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS REVIEW THERE ARE SPOILERS (THE SECTION WILL BE MARKED WITH A LOT OF SPACING).
This is my favorite book of all time. And it is the longest book that I have EVER read. I had an audiobook on Libby the narrator is amazing. His name is Steven Weber. His audiobook narration was amazing. I recommend having the audiobook and book for a better reading experience. There is a few slow parts of this book and having the audiobook made this book not to be a lower rating than if I was physically reading them. The audiobook experience helped me get past the slow parts, I watched a few reading vlogs of IT and many people recommended having the "Dual Reading Experience" which is having the book, and the audiobook. I will be referencing The Dual Reading Experience through this book.
(At the time of writing this review I am listening to the audiobook at 3x speed, so if you looked at the dates that I have read this from that is why. I also have listed to this book as well.)
I will remember this book for the rest of my life. And yes, I will walk a few yards from the sewer drains. And if you read this book I think that you will keep far from them. It sucks that there is one right out front of my window...
The way that The Master of Horror described this clown made it even more scary. This clown is not an old regular clown that wants to give you blood at your birthday party and have a fun time celebrating your birthday party...this clown wants to feed on your fear. Whatever you fear Pennywise will feed on it. (And yes, I do have a fear of clowns now). The way he described it just made it absolutely scary as the book went on:
"Stupid! There were no things with claws, all hairy and full of killing spite. Now and then someone went crazy and killed a lot of people—sometimes Chet Huntley told about such things on the evening news—and of course, there were Commies, but there was no weirdo monster living down in their cellar. Still, this idea lingered. In those interminable moments, while he was groping for the switch with his right hand (his left arm curled around the doorjamb in a death grip), that cellar smell seemed to intensify until it filled the world. Smells of dirt and wet and long-gone vegetables would merge into one unmistakable ineluctable smell, the smell of the monster, the apotheosis of all monsters. It was the smell of something for which he had no name: the smell of It, crouched and lurking and ready to spring. A creature which would eat anything but which was especially hungry for boymeat."
The first encounter with IT was within the first ten or so pages. Absolute bone-chilling. Anyone who has not read this book, not watched the 1990 mini-series, or the 2017 IT Chapter Two knows Pennywise, hell I was six knowing that something lurks in the storm drains and I did not know who Stephen King, was or what the 1990 mini-series was. I was joking with my friends in the kindergarten that Pennywise would come to school tomorrow and jump out of the storm drain. And I was six! I had never known anything about this. If someone told me, I don't think that I would go to school that day because this book was actually that scary.
The Characters
There are six main characters that we follow through 1100 pages. The characters are the best characters that I have ever read.
The Losers Club consists of five boys and one girl.
Richie Tozier (male), I knew Richie when I was six, and now I know where he originated from. I felt like all of the characters were developed very well. I connected with all of the child characters more than when they were adults.
Mike Hanlon (male), I did not connect to Mike that much, but all of these characters were so well done.
Beverly March (female) is one of my favorite characters as well!
Ben Hanscom (male), Ben! An amazing character, one of my favorites
Bill Denbrough (male) is my favorite character in the novel! He was my favorite when he was a child, and when he was an adult. He is the brother of Georgie who was the first one to encounter IT in the fall of 1957
Stanley Uris (male), I liked him too! Not my top characters in this novel though.
None of the characters in this book are bad in any way. These are some of the BEST characters that I have read in my entire life! I feel depending on the age that you read this book you will connect with the characters in different ways!
This book has five parts with a Derry Interlude!
What is Derry Interlude? You may ask. Firstly, we should know what Derry is. Derry is a fictional town set in Maine, the town is based in Bangor Maine (where Stephen King lives). This story came when he was on one of his walks and he saw a storm drain and built a masterpiece of a story from it. Derry is not real, but it feels like you know this town, like you live there. I feel like I could walk around this town, be put in a random place, and find my way back to my house. This town was built so well, Stephen King knows how to build a town so well. He is an amazing writer.
Now, to get to the Derry Interludes: the Derry Interludes is a short brief interlude (an interlude if you do not know: is when the author takes a break from the main narration: from the characters to the town speaking. This book is told in 3rd place in the main parts, and in where Derry (the town) tells the story it is in first person).
If you do not know what first person and third person is. I have an explanation below:
First-person: I, Me, We, Us
Third Person: Them, They, He, She
The Derry Interludes were one of the best ways to get the lore behind the town to make it feel like it was real.
“Politics always change. Stories never do.”
There are so many amazing quotes that I could put on here. If you want good quotes, read this book.
“Your hair is winter fire,
January embers.
My heart burns there, too.”
The Plot
It is hard to describe the plot without getting into spoilers, so this is going to be very, very vague.
The Losers Club investigates a line of murders to find out that the murders are not done by a human force, it is done by something not human...
This book had plenty of connections to the Stephen King multiverse. If you have not read any other Stephen King books this is a good starting point on a few points, if these are not an issue with you READ THIS!
1) Page length is not an issue: an 1150-page book, might be a problem for you (and that is okay! You should not feel like you have to read this book just because I am raving about it in this review, read what you want!)
2) you will (and want) to read a lot of character development: to get to know and love these characters it is going to take a lot of development of them.
3) a slower-paced book: this book is not action after action after action. This is no Star Wars movie where battle scenes happen every five seconds. There is a build-up to the major events in this book.
4) you have a lot of time to read this book: this will take you a lot of time to read if you do not have much time on your hands. If you don't have a lot of time on your hands: read the audiobook! Everyone needs to know this story
The Moral of the Story
Good friendships are the important key to life, and overcoming fears.
I most definitely think that everyone should know this story! Everyone in their lifetimes should read this book. Make it a bucket list item. Make it now! Read this!
“If a fear cannot be articulated, it can’t be conquered. And the fears locked in small brains are much too large to pass through the orifice of the mouth.”
--'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
TRIGGER WARRNIGS
While reading this some things stood out for me, and I am going to note them here.
- Homophobic slurs, there was A LOT of homophobia in the first one hundred pages of this book, but if you look past it, this book is amazing
- Racial slurs, there is too, too, too many n-words in this book. Way too many. You don't need a character saying the n-word every two words he/or she says to prove that the character is racist.
- Child death
- Coulrophobia (fear of clowns)
- Bullying
- Animal Death
- Decapitation
- Hospitalisation
- Physical injuries, i
- including broken bones
- amputation
If you are subject to a trigger for one or more of the following main trigger warnings, please consider reading this book.
There were many things in this book that were just not right, it was clear that Stephen King was not in the right mind while writing this. And I am going to talk about them.
The amount of racial slurs in this book was a bit too much, it was too repetitive. I don't think that racial slurs should be in books, they should be removed so that everyone can have a nice reading experience, as same with homophobic slurs. BUT: if you can get past that, this book is amazing. It is my favorite book of all time, and it is bound to be my favorite book for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Stephen King, for writing this. Thank you for writing amazing characters.
And THANK YOU for reading this long review of my favorite book.
Here is an amazing YouTube video review of IT by Mike's Book Reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm_DGonIiSrLBGLz0ProiWA
SPOILERS BELOW:
DO NOT SCROLL DOWN ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS
DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER THIS WILL SPOIL THE ENDING!!!!
DO NOT READ THE TEXT BELOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ THIS BOOK, READ IF YOU HAVE READ THIS OR IS NOT PLANNING TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
--
SCROLL DOWN FOR SPOILERS:
--
I am so sad that there will most definitely not be a sequel to this story. But 27 years have passed and it would be cool to have a sequel.
IT is dead, IT is not coming back to haunt the cursed small town of Derry. The battle scene is one of the most edge-of-the-seat things that I have read. It is dead. The battle scene is amazing! And watching it on YouTube: Chills.
"I told you, Will, I fucking told you, I don't wanna die, it's your fault...you punched me in the face, you made me walk thru shitty water, you brought me to a fucking cracked house...and now... I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown...WELCOME TO THE LOSERS CLUB, ASSHOLE....!"
Absolute killer of a book. Amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLM-UsuGBuQ&ab_channel=LUCASRENTON
A fun story about cute birthday clowns. WRONG!!
Hang on for this LOOOOONG review!
“The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years-if it ever did end-began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”
“We all float down here!”
Any time that Derry's Dancing Clown (also known as Pennywise) said anything to the members of The Looser's Club I would have chills running down my spine.
Many people: "Well, Stephen King is not scary."
Me: *Hands them a copy of IT*, "Let me know what your thoughts are after this masterpiece of a novel."
4.95/5 OF THIS BOOK IS SPOILER-FREE, AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS REVIEW THERE ARE SPOILERS (THE SECTION WILL BE MARKED WITH A LOT OF SPACING).
This is my favorite book of all time. And it is the longest book that I have EVER read. I had an audiobook on Libby the narrator is amazing. His name is Steven Weber. His audiobook narration was amazing. I recommend having the audiobook and book for a better reading experience. There is a few slow parts of this book and having the audiobook made this book not to be a lower rating than if I was physically reading them. The audiobook experience helped me get past the slow parts, I watched a few reading vlogs of IT and many people recommended having the "Dual Reading Experience" which is having the book, and the audiobook. I will be referencing The Dual Reading Experience through this book.
(At the time of writing this review I am listening to the audiobook at 3x speed, so if you looked at the dates that I have read this from that is why. I also have listed to this book as well.)
I will remember this book for the rest of my life. And yes, I will walk a few yards from the sewer drains. And if you read this book I think that you will keep far from them. It sucks that there is one right out front of my window...
The way that The Master of Horror described this clown made it even more scary. This clown is not an old regular clown that wants to give you blood at your birthday party and have a fun time celebrating your birthday party...this clown wants to feed on your fear. Whatever you fear Pennywise will feed on it. (And yes, I do have a fear of clowns now). The way he described it just made it absolutely scary as the book went on:
"Stupid! There were no things with claws, all hairy and full of killing spite. Now and then someone went crazy and killed a lot of people—sometimes Chet Huntley told about such things on the evening news—and of course, there were Commies, but there was no weirdo monster living down in their cellar. Still, this idea lingered. In those interminable moments, while he was groping for the switch with his right hand (his left arm curled around the doorjamb in a death grip), that cellar smell seemed to intensify until it filled the world. Smells of dirt and wet and long-gone vegetables would merge into one unmistakable ineluctable smell, the smell of the monster, the apotheosis of all monsters. It was the smell of something for which he had no name: the smell of It, crouched and lurking and ready to spring. A creature which would eat anything but which was especially hungry for boymeat."
The first encounter with IT was within the first ten or so pages. Absolute bone-chilling. Anyone who has not read this book, not watched the 1990 mini-series, or the 2017 IT Chapter Two knows Pennywise, hell I was six knowing that something lurks in the storm drains and I did not know who Stephen King, was or what the 1990 mini-series was. I was joking with my friends in the kindergarten that Pennywise would come to school tomorrow and jump out of the storm drain. And I was six! I had never known anything about this. If someone told me, I don't think that I would go to school that day because this book was actually that scary.
The Characters
There are six main characters that we follow through 1100 pages. The characters are the best characters that I have ever read.
The Losers Club consists of five boys and one girl.
Richie Tozier (male), I knew Richie when I was six, and now I know where he originated from. I felt like all of the characters were developed very well. I connected with all of the child characters more than when they were adults.
Mike Hanlon (male), I did not connect to Mike that much, but all of these characters were so well done.
Beverly March (female) is one of my favorite characters as well!
Ben Hanscom (male), Ben! An amazing character, one of my favorites
Bill Denbrough (male) is my favorite character in the novel! He was my favorite when he was a child, and when he was an adult. He is the brother of Georgie who was the first one to encounter IT in the fall of 1957
Stanley Uris (male), I liked him too! Not my top characters in this novel though.
None of the characters in this book are bad in any way. These are some of the BEST characters that I have read in my entire life! I feel depending on the age that you read this book you will connect with the characters in different ways!
This book has five parts with a Derry Interlude!
What is Derry Interlude? You may ask. Firstly, we should know what Derry is. Derry is a fictional town set in Maine, the town is based in Bangor Maine (where Stephen King lives). This story came when he was on one of his walks and he saw a storm drain and built a masterpiece of a story from it. Derry is not real, but it feels like you know this town, like you live there. I feel like I could walk around this town, be put in a random place, and find my way back to my house. This town was built so well, Stephen King knows how to build a town so well. He is an amazing writer.
Now, to get to the Derry Interludes: the Derry Interludes is a short brief interlude (an interlude if you do not know: is when the author takes a break from the main narration: from the characters to the town speaking. This book is told in 3rd place in the main parts, and in where Derry (the town) tells the story it is in first person).
If you do not know what first person and third person is. I have an explanation below:
First-person: I, Me, We, Us
Third Person: Them, They, He, She
The Derry Interludes were one of the best ways to get the lore behind the town to make it feel like it was real.
“Politics always change. Stories never do.”
There are so many amazing quotes that I could put on here. If you want good quotes, read this book.
“Your hair is winter fire,
January embers.
My heart burns there, too.”
The Plot
It is hard to describe the plot without getting into spoilers, so this is going to be very, very vague.
The Losers Club investigates a line of murders to find out that the murders are not done by a human force, it is done by something not human...
This book had plenty of connections to the Stephen King multiverse. If you have not read any other Stephen King books this is a good starting point on a few points, if these are not an issue with you READ THIS!
1) Page length is not an issue: an 1150-page book, might be a problem for you (and that is okay! You should not feel like you have to read this book just because I am raving about it in this review, read what you want!)
2) you will (and want) to read a lot of character development: to get to know and love these characters it is going to take a lot of development of them.
3) a slower-paced book: this book is not action after action after action. This is no Star Wars movie where battle scenes happen every five seconds. There is a build-up to the major events in this book.
4) you have a lot of time to read this book: this will take you a lot of time to read if you do not have much time on your hands. If you don't have a lot of time on your hands: read the audiobook! Everyone needs to know this story
The Moral of the Story
Good friendships are the important key to life, and overcoming fears.
I most definitely think that everyone should know this story! Everyone in their lifetimes should read this book. Make it a bucket list item. Make it now! Read this!
“If a fear cannot be articulated, it can’t be conquered. And the fears locked in small brains are much too large to pass through the orifice of the mouth.”
--'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
TRIGGER WARRNIGS
While reading this some things stood out for me, and I am going to note them here.
- Homophobic slurs, there was A LOT of homophobia in the first one hundred pages of this book, but if you look past it, this book is amazing
- Racial slurs, there is too, too, too many n-words in this book. Way too many. You don't need a character saying the n-word every two words he/or she says to prove that the character is racist.
- Child death
- Coulrophobia (fear of clowns)
- Bullying
- Animal Death
- Decapitation
- Hospitalisation
- Physical injuries, i
- including broken bones
- amputation
If you are subject to a trigger for one or more of the following main trigger warnings, please consider reading this book.
There were many things in this book that were just not right, it was clear that Stephen King was not in the right mind while writing this. And I am going to talk about them.
The amount of racial slurs in this book was a bit too much, it was too repetitive. I don't think that racial slurs should be in books, they should be removed so that everyone can have a nice reading experience, as same with homophobic slurs. BUT: if you can get past that, this book is amazing. It is my favorite book of all time, and it is bound to be my favorite book for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Stephen King, for writing this. Thank you for writing amazing characters.
And THANK YOU for reading this long review of my favorite book.
Here is an amazing YouTube video review of IT by Mike's Book Reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm_DGonIiSrLBGLz0ProiWA
SPOILERS BELOW:
DO NOT SCROLL DOWN ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS
DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER THIS WILL SPOIL THE ENDING!!!!
DO NOT READ THE TEXT BELOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ THIS BOOK, READ IF YOU HAVE READ THIS OR IS NOT PLANNING TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
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SCROLL DOWN FOR SPOILERS:
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I am so sad that there will most definitely not be a sequel to this story. But 27 years have passed and it would be cool to have a sequel.
IT is dead, IT is not coming back to haunt the cursed small town of Derry. The battle scene is one of the most edge-of-the-seat things that I have read. It is dead. The battle scene is amazing! And watching it on YouTube: Chills.
"I told you, Will, I fucking told you, I don't wanna die, it's your fault...you punched me in the face, you made me walk thru shitty water, you brought me to a fucking cracked house...and now... I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown...WELCOME TO THE LOSERS CLUB, ASSHOLE....!"
Absolute killer of a book. Amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLM-UsuGBuQ&ab_channel=LUCASRENTON
dillonbrantley's review against another edition
3.0
It remains quintessential King to most readers (and his Magnum Opus for many), and there are times where it truly shines, even having some effectively creepy moments. However, the book overstays its welcome on occasion and felt like it had too much fluff.
And yes, there is THAT scene (iykyk) which is uncomfortable and feels wholly unnecessary, but it doesn't ruin the experience.
Usually I think reading book is better than watching the movie or TV miniseries, but in this case it may just be too much of an investment of time to recommend.
And yes, there is THAT scene (iykyk) which is uncomfortable and feels wholly unnecessary, but it doesn't ruin the experience.
Usually I think reading book is better than watching the movie or TV miniseries, but in this case it may just be too much of an investment of time to recommend.