Spencer's Bookcase

All Creatures Great and Small

Title: All Creatures Great and Small

Author: James Herriot

Genre: Biography/Memoir, Comedy

Pages: 552 Pages

Synopsis:

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot’s periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot’s recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

All Creatures Great and Small is actually two books in one: If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet about the adventures of James Herriot, who is a Veterinary Surgeon who takes on cases all over rural Yorkshire.

Now I’m going, to be honest here. I know this is a beloved book, but I didn’t like this book. And we will get to that in a minute. But here is what I did like about the book. I like the subplot of Tricki Woo, a dog that is overfed and pampered. I actually liked this small subplot. As it was fun, and the owner of the dog kept things entertaining. And there were parts of the book where I admit I did laugh.

But I have to be honest, reading this book felt like a slog. I was pretty bored reading most of this novel. The characters weren’t interesting and I guess I just didn’t like James Herriot’s writing style all that much. For a Memoir, this seems more of a collection of short stories rather than a person just telling us his life story.

My other issue is that I didn’t understand a lot of the Medical Jargon that was being used. I am not a medical professional or anything, so I don’t have a lot of knowledge in this area. And it just makes me ask a load of questions, which took me a bit out of the experience of reading this novel. Lastly I kind of felt that this book dragged on too long.

This was a disappointment especially since this is the month’s book in my book club. While it did have one good subplot and did make me laugh once or twice, this was a real slog for me to read through and I just did not like this book. Apparently, this is part of a book series, but this is one book series that I have no intention of continuing to read.

Rating:

The Well of Ascension

Title: The Well of Ascension

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Mistborn #2

Pages: 785 Pages

Synopsis:

The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler — the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years — has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.

As Kelsier’s protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin’s Mistborn skills sharp, but it’s the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn’t run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier’s crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won’t get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler’s hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

Going into the second book of the Mistborn series, I was kind of wondering: okay so our heroes defeated the Dark Lord and they installed a new leader to rule the kingdom. Now what? Well it turns out ruling over the world was a lot more challenging than was thought and the death of the Lord Ruler has led to different leaders clashing for power, all while a new threat is creeping up on our Heroes.

This book had pretty much everything that I loved about it from the first book: the cast of characters all return. The magic system of Allomancy and Freuchemy continues to develop and the more time we explore this magic system, the better it just gets. Not to mention the fight scenes in this novel are awesome!

I really liked the story here: for most of the novel our heroes are besieged by three, yes three armies. And it adds a lot of tension and stress and you feel it through our cast of characters. And the political maneuvering just added to the stakes. Vin’s storyline was very good as she fought against her own self-doubt and her fights with Zane, and slowly gains confidence through the novel.

One thing I was not really expecting in this novel was: Politics! There was a ton of politics in this novel. Now in the previous book, there were hints of politics, but it wasn’t really the main focus. However, for most of this novel, politics really drives the plot for most of the novel. And as a person who just loves reading about politics, I enjoyed it. It had me at the edge of my seat wondering: Where is this going? What the hell is going to happen next?

I’m beginning to really like Brandon Sanderson’s writing style. I find it very accessible and he keeps me interested in what is happening throughout the entire novel. His writing help makes this a great page-turner.

I also just want to mention the climax with the battle for the city is intense and a pretty awesome climax.

Now I do have a few issues with this novel. I am a little mixed on worldbuilding for this novel. On one hand, we get to learn more about the creatures of this world: Koloss and the Kandra. What they are and some lore about them. We also do get to explore more of the history of the world of Mistborn.

On the other hand, one of my disappointments with this novel is we don’t really get to explore too much of this world. We spend most of the time in the city just like in the last book. Yes, we do see some unnamed villages, but the fact that we spend most of the time in the same city as the last book kind of disappoints me. And it just makes the world feel smaller. One of the things, I love about Epic Fantasy is getting to explore and see the world with our characters and I’m a little disappointed. As I feel like this is a very interesting world. I want to learn more about this world.

I do like Elend Venture as a character and I thought his learning how to become a leader was a decent character arc for him. The main issue I had with his story, is that none of his accomplishments really felt earned. Whenever he accomplishes something in the novel it just feels like it gets handed to him.

I also felt the search for the Kandra subplot went on just a little too long. I liked it because we got to explore and learn more about Kandra, however it felt like the weakest plot point in this novel.

While I personally love the politics in this novel, if you are not into politics. This book can be a slog.

Overall, this was a really good follow-up to one of my favourite Fantasy Novels that I have read so far this year. I really like the characters, the plot, the magic system (this magic system is S-Tier for sure), and the action scenes are amazing. I really like Brandon Sanderson’s writing style and he is slowly becoming one of my personal favourite authors. This is a great follow-up novel and I am looking forward to reading the conclusion of this Trilogy!

Rating:

My Mistborn Reviews:

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Ordinary Monsters

Title: Ordinary Monsters

Author: J.M. Miro

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Series: The Talents Trilogy #1

Pages: 658 Pages

Synopsis:

England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness —a man made of smoke.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite a lifetime of brutality, doesn’t have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are forced to confront the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.

What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh, where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. Here, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.

With lush prose, mesmerizing world-building, and a gripping plot, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastophic vision of the Victorian world—and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

DNF – 312 Pages at 46%

I had some high hopes for this book. As this book grabbed my attention as X-Men but in the Victorian Age. And it’s a Historical Fantasy. While the time period is interesting and I like how this Fantasy book does not take place in Medieval Times. It is good to see some Fantasy taking place in different time periods.

I decided to DNF this book for several reasons. The first reason is the characters. Literally, one of the main characters is named Charlie Ovid, or as he is sometimes referred to as C. Ovid. When I realized this I literally screamed: Why????? Why would the author choose to name his character that? I still do not understand why the author would name one of his main characters associated with a virus that has killed millions of people and changed our lives over the past two years. Oh, and did I mention this novel was released earlier this year?

Not to mention, I really just do not care about any of the children with talents. I do not really care about them. The only real character that I liked is Alice Quicke. At least she helped drive the plot and things actually happened during her POV parts.

Another issue I have is that right in the middle of the fight scene at around 200 pages. We stop the fight scene just to explore the backstory of the main antagonist. And this goes on for over 80 pages! That’s almost enough to be a novella. The whole plot just pauses for those over 80 pages. It’s just confusing to me why the author would pause the plot just to do this for that long.

For a book that’s supposed to be like the X-Men or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in the Victorian Age, the novel doesn’t really do anything new for this sort of trope. It seems like the author just wanted to do his own version of the X-Men and just left it as such.

Lastly, I felt like things were poorly explained in this novel. Such as I did not understand what a Litch and a Drughr were. And I did not understand what types of Talents are there. They split them into five and I still don’t understand all the differences between these five different types of Talents.

This was a big disappointment for me as I thought this would be a decent read but it ended up being such a disappointment that I decided it wasn’t worth my time to continue to read this novel. This is apparently supposed to be a trilogy, and this is one trilogy I will not continue reading. Next!

Rating:

DNF – 312 Pages at 46%

Monthly Wrap-Up: October 2022

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Monthly Wrap-Up where I give updates on my reading and other things I’m up to in the past month. So let’s get to it!

Books Read: 5

As Horror Month comes to an end, I say I really liked this themed month. I got to devote a whole month to one of my favourite genres and the timing is just perfect! I liked this so much that next October will again be Horror Month! Of course, I will read a Horror Novel here and there, but October will be the month devoted to Horror going forward.

I managed to read about five books this month. And I feel pretty good about achieving that. I also managed to read about 1,489 pages.

Carrie by Stephen King

I started Horror Month by reading the first book from King of Horror and one of my personal favourite authors: Stephen King. This was a really good Horror Novel and definitely a good starting point if you want to read Stephen King.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

This is a great choice for a book to read during this Halloween Season. It’s Horror with some creepy scenes, with great characters and the novel literally takes place around Halloween.

Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

This was the only book I read this month that I really did not like. While I love the Dungeons & Dragons references, and the Autism Representation in the novel. I really dislike the antagonist, and the mystery for me was ruined really early as it was too obvious who the antagonist was. I also just found the climax a disappointment.

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Definitely my personal favourite book for this month and it’s another Stephen King Novel! This is my new favourite Stephen King novel. It’s full of great characters, suspense, and a great atmosphere. A definite page-turner. His writing is really at its best here.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

This was an okay read for me. I mostly knew the story since I watched the movie before reading the book. I liked the Psychological Horror and it’s characters but some of the dialogue was quirky and raised my eyebrows at times.

Currently Reading:

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

This is a relatively recent release (well it was released earlier this year) that caught my eye. As a Fantasy person, this seems like a good book to give a try. So far so good…

What I’ve Been Doing and Watching:

October was an interesting month. I was helping a friend out on a project.

I’ve watched quite a few episodes of the original The Addams Family! And I love this series. This series is hilarious with a great cast of characters and it’s now one of my Halloween favourites.

I finally started my second Dungeons & Dragons Campaign. And I think I have my character figured out. I had my Session 0 recently, and I’m already having fun with my Chaotic Good Triton Wizard that’s an eccentric genius.

Plans For Next Month:

After taking a month off from Fantasy, I’m back to reading Fantasy! I’m aiming to read Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro, whatever the book for Book Club this month, and I hope to go back and continue reading the Mistborn Trilogy.

Other than that I hope to watch more of The Librarians. And I am looking forward to playing more of my second D&D Campaign, in addition to my ongoing first campaign (we are over 7 months in and I am still having a lot of fun with this campaign).

Halloween Men GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Happy Halloween Everyone! I got my costume ready and everything. See you all next time!

The Haunting of Hill House

Title: The Haunting of Hill House

Author: Shirley Jackson

Genre: Horror

Pages: 233 Pages

Synopsis:

It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

(From Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

One of the best horror archetypes that never seem to get old is the Haunted House. And this is one of the most reputable books for this Horror Archetype. This is one of those books where I watched the movie before reading the book. And the differences between the movie and the book are definitely interesting, to say the least.

The Haunting of Hill House is about the story of Eleanor who explores Hill House with Professor Montague, Luke, and Theodora as they search for evidence of Paranormal activity in Hill House.

There are quite a few things I do like about this novel. We learn a lot more about the characters and who they are as people in the book than the 1963 movie (the 1963 movie is a great adaptation of this novel).

I love the Psychological Horror in this novel. As a lot of the scares are not quite supernatural. It’s more psychological. There were times during this novel where I was wondering is this really the supernatural or is this all in our character’s heads? And I’m still trying to decide how much of Hill House is Supernatural or how much of it is in our character’s heads.

Now one of the main issues, I have with this novel is I found the dialogue a little quirky at times, and it raised my eyebrows at times. I also found the characters acted a little spiteful towards each other for really no reason. I also just pretty much knew the story because I watched the movie.

Overall, The Haunting of Hill House is an okay Horror Novel. It’s strengths are in its characters and the questioning of whether the events are supernatural or it being in the character’s heads was very well handled. I definitely recommend giving it a read at least once and reading it at this time of year is perfect.

Rating:

My Five Book Recommendations for Halloween

Hey everyone! Since it’s getting close to Halloween so I want to give you all my five book recommendations for Halloween. So without further ado, let’s begin!

5. Dracula by Bram Stoker

Let’s get the classic out of the way. Dracula is a horror classic! There are definitely some creepy scenes such as Dracula climbing the walls at night and the shipwreck scenes. Not to mention Dracula is a scary antagonist. This is still a book I recommend everyone read at least once.

4. Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

Do you want a lighter Horror read? Penpal by Dathan Auerbach is a good option. It has creepy and scary moments and brings a very good creepy atmosphere.

3. The Troop by Nick Cutter

While I would prefer to read this in the summer since that is when I really loved going to camp as a Scout. I did go camping out in the Fall, so I feel like this novel can work for around this time as well. It’s about a group of scouts who are trying to contain a disease caused by killer tapeworms. Considering we are still in a Pandemic and more contagious diseases are appearing (The Flu, Ebola, Monkeypox etc.), the idea of a very contagious disease is still very terrifying and very relevant.

2. Pet Semetary by Stephen King

I just finished this novel but I absolutely recommend this read. Stephen King’s Writing is at its best here. He creates such strong characters and does a great job setting the atmosphere and raising tension and suspense throughout this book. This is just as good if not better than The Shining.

1. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a great choice for the Halloween Season. It’s a good Horror Novel with some really great scenes, and characters that you care about. Not to mention the book takes place literally a week before Halloween. This to me is the perfect book you should read around Halloween!

This is my 100th post here on this blog! Here’s to another 100 posts! See you soon!

Pet Sematary

Title: Pet Sematary

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror

Pages: 395 Pages

Synopsis:

When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Despite Ludlow’s tranquility, an undercurrent of danger exists here. Those trucks on the road outside the Creed’s beautiful old home travel by just a little too quickly, for one thing…as is evidenced by the makeshift graveyard in the nearby woods where generations of children have buried their beloved pets. Then there are the warnings to Louis both real and from the depths of his nightmares that he should not venture beyond the borders of this little graveyard where another burial ground lures with seductive promises and ungodly temptations. A blood-chilling truth is hidden there—one more terrifying than death itself, and hideously more powerful. As Louis is about to discover for himself sometimes, dead is better…

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

“Sometimes dead is better” – Stephen King

Pet Sematary by Stephen King is a story about Louis Creed, a doctor who moves to the Town of Ludlow, Maine with his family: his wife Rachel, his children Gage and Ellie, and their cat Church. Louis Creed works as a doctor in a University. And he finds out there is a Pet Sematary and an Indigenous Burial Ground that has the power to resurrect the dead.

I’m going to say it: This is my new favourite Stephen King Novel! This is Stephen King’s Writing at its best! He creates characters that you understand and care about, suspense (there were times in this story when I had no idea where this was going), supernatural, and horror. This was a real page-turner for me. King’s Writing truly is great here, the way he writes it and makes you engaged and care about the characters is one of the things that I love about Stephen King.

While some of the characters (particularly Louis) do make some stupid decisions. Such as Louis deciding to resurrect his son (spoilers!), despite being warned by the ghost of the student he couldn’t save, and his friend Jud to not do that (Why do people not listen?). I can totally understand why Louis did it. He truly loved his son, and he wanted the family to be together and wanted to see his son grow up. So yes it’s a stupid decision, but the way Stephen King writes his characters, we can understand why the characters made those decisions.

In addition, this novel does an excellent job exploring its themes: Worrying about Death, our mortality, grief, and loss are all prominent themes in this Novel. We see how painful and raw emotion grief can give us. And how the feelings of loss can be overwhelming.

I also feel like this is probably the best climax from Stephen King that I have read so far. It’s gripping and it’s scary and worth reading.

Now, I’m not sure if I call this a “Criticism” as it may just be more of an observation. I’ve noticed throughout quite a few of his works that there is a Psychic character of some sort. And it happens in Pet Sematary as well. My only issue with the Psychic character is that it’s never really explained where that character got that power, what the actual extent of the power or how the power really works. I guess Stephen King just wanted to create a soft magic system for his stories. Thankfully I did read “The Shining”, and this psychic power is known as “The Shine” which gives a person a psychic ability. I just find it curious and interesting that Stephen King really likes to have a character with this ability in his stories.

Overall, Pet Sematary is Stephen King’s Horror at his best. I highly recommend reading it for this time of year or if you just need to read something scary to read. This book is also a very good start if you want to begin reading Stephen King.

Rating:

Even If We Break

Title: Even If We Break

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Genre: Horror

Pages: 309 Pages

Synopsis:

IT WAS NEVER JUST A GAME.

FIVE friends go to a cabin.
FOUR of them are hiding secrets.
THREE years of history bind them.
TWO are doomed from the start.
ONE person wants to end this.
NO ONE IS SAFE.

ARE YOU READY TO PLAY?

Set over the course of one deadly weekend and told from five pulse-pounding perspectives, Even If We Break is a shocking thriller about a group of friends tied together by a game and the relationships that define them: the healthy ones, the toxic ones, and the ones that will break them.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

Even If We Break is the story of five friends told in the First-Person Perspective of each of the main characters. The story is about five friends who go to a Cabin in the woods (yep that trope), to play the final session in their Dungeons & Dragons Campaign. And things begin to go weird and things end up becoming deadly.

There are a few things that I like about this book. I feel like the First-Person Perspective worked very well here. As we were able to see things from each of the character’s points of view. We understand their backstory, their thoughts, and how they are all feeling.

My personal favourite character in this novel has to be Maddy. Maddy is an Autistic character, and as an Autistic person myself, I like it when I see good Autistic representation. I related to her quite well. She also has an interesting backstory. She was a Lacrosse player, which gave her some status in school until she got into a bad car accident. Which gave her PTSD and she has gotten addicted to her painkillers. She goes through a lot in this book and it makes her character more interesting.

Also as a person who loves Dungeons & Dragons: I love the Dungeons & Dragons references in this novel! It was a nice gift for those who love Dungeons & Dragons.

Just a minor thing, but I liked how this novel had a diverse cast.

Now the biggest problems I have with this novel are the main antagonist and the ending. The mystery was ruined pretty early for me as the book makes it way too obvious who the main antagonist is. I was not convinced by our main antagonist’s motives. Our main antagonist’s motives only made me ask even more questions. Her motives failed to convince me and makes me confused. I just think our main antagonist is just a psychopath. I also just found the climax very underwhelming to me.

While I like the autistic and diverse representation, and the Dungeons & Dragons references. I wouldn’t recommend it if you have no exposure to Dungeons & Dragons or any Tabletop Roleplaying Games because you probably will not understand the references and you might struggle during the role-playing scenes. Lastly, the main antagonist and the ending made this novel a disappointment.

Rating:

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Author: Ray Bradbury

Genre: Horror

Pages: 262 Pages

Synopsis:

For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.

(from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

It’s been a while since I last reviewed a Ray Bradbury novel. I really did like Farhenheit 451, and when I heard he made a Horror Novel since it’s Horror Month I decided to give this a read. This is a story about the classic good versus evil. The story follows Will Halloway, Jim Nightshade, and Will’s father Charles Halloway as a Carnival comes to town and they find out the Carnival is evil and has the power to grant the townspeople’s secret desires. And the Carnival’s leader Mr. Dark feeds off the life force of those they enslave.

This novel definitely has its creepy moments. The scene where Will and Jim were hiding under a storm drain from the Carnival was tense and scary. The Witch trying to discover where the boys lived was also scary. It had its scary moments for sure.

My two favourite characters are Charles Halloway and Mr. Dark. I love Charles’s Monologues about Philosophy. I really enjoyed those. Also, I love he works in a library where he is always surrounded by books. He’s also just a really great dad! Also Mr. Dark is a great antagonist. He feels like a real threat and he is almost omnipresent for most of the book. He is a great villain and he almost always steals the scenes that he is in.

If I had one major criticism, it’s the descriptions. The descriptions made it difficult for me to follow and visualize what is happening at times. If I have trouble visualizing what is happening in a novel, it starts to lose some points for me.

I definitely recommend this book, especially for Halloween (the book literally does take place a week before Halloween). This book has some scares and some great characters, perfect for the month of Halloween!

Rating:

Carrie

Title: Carrie

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Horror

Pages: 290 Pages

Synopsis:

Carrie may be picked on by her classmates but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem.

To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie — the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues. Until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of terror and destruction that no one will ever forget.

(Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

Welcome to Horror Month! Where we review nothing but Horror! And for our first book for Horror Month, we are reviewing the first book written by the King of Horror himself: Stephen King. Carrie is about a teenage girl who is an outcast and friendless, who comes from an abusive family and learns that she has Telekinesis powers. After going to the Prom in order to try and fit in better. She becomes the victim of a horrible prank, and after being humiliated, she uses her powers to exact revenge against the people who tortured her.

For a debut novel, Stephen King does a very good job writing a horror novel, and we are able to see some of his horror genius in this novel. The scenes where Carrie exacts her revenge, are downright terrifying. As she basically almost destroys an entire town and killed quite a bit of people while doing it. It was built up pretty well. As there were hints that something was going to happen at this Prom and there was a build-up to it. Also, the abuse Carrie gets from her own Mother is just sad and scary.

Again, I do like the extracts from other media: we get testimony during trials, newspapers, books, etc. And I still like this method as it creates the feeling that this could actually happen in real life.

I do have some criticism. Whenever we explore a person’s internal monologue. He tends to indent brackets like this:

(I need to do this)

It just feels like a weird way of doing an internal monologue.

My other criticism is that the pacing for the first part of the book is kind of slow. But it does get better when we get to the Prom scenes and the aftermath.

This book is under 300 pages, which means that it is a quick read. I definitely recommend this book if you are new to Stephen King and don’t want to begin reading one of his 500+ pages right off the bat. This is a very good book for a debut novel, and it hints at what’s to come from Stephen King. And definitely, a Horror book that I recommend. Horror Month has just begun so stay tuned for more!

Rating: