By An interesting primary character. The world builds nicely through the story’s actors. And as always, King brings a voice to this tale that no other author can.
Unfortunately, Doctor Sleep doesn’t deliver something satisfying.
The villain is boring and weak. Rose the Hat and the other members of the True Knot complain, scream and threaten frequently. But little comes of it as they’re easily defeated. A lot of buildup for no payoff.
And top all of this off with a driving inconvenience for the bad guys—they’re dying from measles. Hundreds of years of existence without vaccines and I’m expected to believe this sudden shortcoming no matter the explanation. A sickness should have happened to the good guys but then it would read more like The Stand without a grand apocalyptic scope.
There are better novels by King to read.
My opinion: It’s Okay
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My book review philosophy.
I don’t believe in using a numbering system when it comes to art of any kind–visual, audio, text and so on. (And that goes for numbered stars or any other type of symbol.) When it comes to a critique of fiction, what I’m really doing is expressing my interest in the story and attempting to explain why I did (or did not) enjoy the read. This is my expression and you may or may not agree with my opinion. How can a ‘3.5 stars’ quantify this with any real meaning?
Numbers are used to describe a physical phenomenon quantitatively, called a physical quantity. Your height is a physical quantity. Humans use units of quantity to measure and we both can agree–more or less–to the result. But can we both agree to a work of fiction’s personal impact and for the same reasons? Not likely. And don’t even try to convert a book review score to SI units.
So this is how I sum up a book:
- Couldn’t Finish It–Something about this book annoyed or bored me and I eventually put it down. Maybe I made it through a chapter. Maybe I got about halfway through it or more. But the story couldn’t compel me to finish to the last page.
- It’s Okay–Well, I did finish the story. It was difficult to do so, I was eventually disappointed or I don’t remember much of what happened. Whatever the reason, this is not a book that made a lasting impression.
- Good Read!–Loved the book from page 1 to completion. Couldn’t put it down and I enthusiastically recommend it.
