IT

Oh my god, I finished it! One of my smaller goals last year was to finish this god damn, length book! There were a few times when I thought I’d fail and never have this book finished but look at me now, Stephen King! I did it. I read my first King novel and it was 1116 pages long!!! Here I am reviewing it so my readers can make a decision if they want to put the effort into reading this book! Here we go!

Spoilers Ahead (you’ve been warned)

The Story: 

To be honest, I’d be surprised if you do not all know what this book is about now but for the sake of continuity, I’ll explain.

Derry, Maine; a sleepy, small town, oblivious to the monster that sleeps in the sewers. Haunted for decades, Derry has seen some horrific tragedies. Children disappear, others found murdered – cut up, limbs missing, and other gruesome things done to them, buildings are burnt down with people in them, and mass shootings are never discussed.

Seven teenagers stumble upon the true horror and are terrorised by the being they only know as IT or Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Now they are adults, they’ve been brought back together by a force so strong they cannot pull away.

The story is told in the present day and the past when they were teenagers. It leads to the final showdown, will they all make it out alive?

The Review: 

When it was first published, this book was original and unique. There were few books that held a similar idea – a being that plays on the fears of children. Since its publication, authors have been stealing little tidbits from the plot and story line but is that not just an amazing compliment? The idea of this novel is great, I loved it. Who isn’t scared of clowns? I know after reading this and seeing both of the films, I definitely am. I love that the story was split into the childhood of our seven protagonists and then their adulthood. Unfortunately, the children’s story was much better than the adults. It was well-written and more believable. I just didn’t like the seven as adults, I do think that is kind of the idea though – the children are so innocent yet courageous whilst the adults are no longer innocent and truly know what they are facing. I do enjoy reading about children in horrors, they just have such unique eyes and beliefs and as a fan of children’s literature and horror, this was the perfect combination for me. I tuned out quite often during the adults’ chapters.

King writes the perfect, creepy atmosphere though. Some of the scenes are actually terrifying and you do not want to close the book in case Pennywise is behind it. What a brilliant monster/villain, he is horrifying and that makes this book.

The book is divided into parts, chapters, small little inserts from before the seven children were even thought of, research, etc. It leaves the book wholly disjointed which I found so confusing. For the first 200 pages, it took me ages to get into it and work out who was who, especially when you thought someone was a protagonist and then they just get killed off. I was left pretty jumbled. I then think I got into it and it was perfect until 200 pages before the ending. I felt the ending was rushed and I HATE the revelation of what IT actually is – a f***ing giant spider from space… also, IT is a she and keeps having babies. REALLY?! Man, I feel that is such a COP out!!!! UGH, this is the biggest frustration and I feel that I got no pay off from reading a 1116 page book!

Now my final and major gripe with this novel is that awful sex scene… If you’ve read it, you know the one. Where Bev decides that the only way they can grow up and get away from IT is if each and every one of the guys has sex with her. What the ACTUAL f***?! I’ve read up on this and I know the reason why King wrote this scene – sex is the end of innocence, etc but seriously, could you not have found a different way to do this? I actually felt sick and disgusted with myself reading it that I skipped most of it. I did not need 10 pages, describing each experience with each boy. These are kids. I am sure if this book was published today, that would not get past editors or publishers. Maybe it’s just me being overly sensitive but I cannot deal with the sexualisation of children or teenagers. Uh, I hate even writing about this but to be honest, this actually really ruined the book for me. I feel the end was just so rushed and then this is thrown in as well, it’s like King wanted the outrage.

Ah well, I got it all read anyway.

I enjoyed the first half and discovering what was actually happening in Derry but aside from that, I was not impressed. I do love IT -the Tim Curry mini-series, and I actually greatly enjoyed the new film too (a bit too CGI but meh) and my dad and I have loads of jokes and inside things about Tim Curry’s Pennywise so it will always remain dear to my heart but I am disappointed.

I gave this 2 stars.

 

The Switch

Thank you to Netgalley and Curiosity Quills Press for an early edition of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Switch by A.W. Hill and Nathaneal Hill is about a switch; a switch that when used will allow the user to travel into different versions of their own universe. The young protagonist in the story, Jacobus Rose, is unhappy with his teenage life. He wants things to change. With the help of his friend, Connor, they flick a switch and begin their search for a new life. Little do they know how difficult and dangerous this will be. Meeting with more friends and banding together to form a motley crew, the reader follows Jacobus and his friends as they try to get back to their original lives, away from the chaos they find themselves in.

I really wanted to like this book. I really, really wanted to like this book and I am shocked I did not. I searched other people’s reviews and they are largely positive so I have no idea why I am one of the minority there. I thought the premise of the novel was intriguing and despite not being a fan of sci-fi, I thought I would read this and review. Unfortunately, my experience with this novel has proved that I am probably never going to be interested in sci-fi so I apologise to any sci-fi fans out there.

First of all, the writing divided me. On one hand, the authors are experts at setting the scene. Their descriptions were unique and artful all at once. I could see each universe vividly with no gaps in my knowledge. The post-apocalyptic universes that Jacobus and his friends find themselves stuck in were the best described and I actually wish the whole book could have been set in those interesting universes. However, the authors are not always artful. They fail in their writing in some parts.  Some of the scientific ‘mumbo-jumbo’ was far too convoluted. I understand if you are a sci-fi fan and are used to reading about alternate realities, traveling, multiverses, etc, but as someone choosing this as one of their rare sci-fi picks, I felt lost and excluded from the conversation. I had to stop several times and go back a few pages to figure out what on earth was being said. I still think I missed quite a lot. I feel that things could have been simplified as I felt there was quite a bit of repetition and some questions asked or answers given seemed misplaced and as if they were not necessary.

I did find a few positives to this novel.

1.The plot is so unique. The flick of a switch can transport you to a completely different universe, where you may never have been born or could have been born into a different family or different time. It’s very interesting. I have never heard of anything similar and that is what pulled me in. I would definitely give the book 5 stars for individuality.

2. The characters are great. There are 4-5 members of the motley crew and each have an interesting back story and have a unique bond with each other. All of the characters are likeable and you want to get to know them further, and the reader roots for these characters to find their way back to their original world. There is a small bit of romance as well as great bonding movements throughout which is something I like to see in a young adult novel. It was definitely a redeeming factor in a disappointing novel (in my opinion).

Okay so the part you have all been waiting for, why is this so disappointing? I just feel it is so convoluted in places. Not only do you have to read a couple of pages of multiverse or alternate reality talk and still have to go back and read it again to fully understand, but also the characters switch to so many different universes that you do not actually get a moment to enjoy and appreciate the places the authors are creating. The ‘hive’ post-apocalyptic world could have been discussed for half of the novel and it would have still packed the punch that the authors were looking for but you get a few chapters in this universe and then you are onto another one. Some of the universes were a snooze-fest and I am not going to lie, I used this book a lot as a ‘I am struggling to sleep, this will do the trick’ and you know you are not happy with the book when you cannot keep your eyes open reading it. Don’t get me wrong, I was reading page after page in some parts and was so involved in it but then it would take a boring turn and I’d be gone again.

I do not really have much more that I can say about the novel. Whilst reading it, I was dreading the review process because I did not know what to say or how I could say it. I am actually disappointed in my own review as I just feel I could shrug my shoulders at the book. So I am very sorry for a shoddy review but it definitely reflects my feelings.

My next review will definitely be more interesting (and well-written) as I am going to dive back into the genres that I love and can ramble on for days about!

Thank you again to Netgalley and Curiosity Quills for the early copy and I am sorry it did not work out.

I give this book a generous 2 stars based on the fact I liked the characters and the idea.