I'm looking through most of the threads on here and there seems to be almost a universal love for the book (even those who didn't like the ending) - this I'm surprised about because it just didn't grab me at all.
I started the book shortly after my holidays in September and now in mid-November I've finally finished it. This is a long time for me to read a King novel (especially one relatively short on pages), normally I just want to keep reading and even with the longer books I find the unique way King writes his characters and the narrative along the way is just as (if not more) exciting/interesting as the beginning and ending.
With Revival, the idea seemed really intriguing but unfortunately, to me, the execution just didn't live up to it. I didn't find myself drawn along with the story and I didn't even enjoy most of it as there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary exposition of Jamie's life and not enough of his interactions with Rev Jacobs. Normally, I don't mind character's backstories and in King's novels especially, these details are usually the highlights but in this book, I just didn't like the way it was described or written.
I'm not even sure I can pinpoint why but I felt the style of writing (not the actual plot) didn't feel like King's "groove" for want of a better word. It felt like something that he could have come up with the idea for but then someone else had actually written.
I hate to say it because I've read and enjoyed a good majority of his work but I just felt like this book was a chore to read - I feel like it should have been a short story but then he got carried away and made it into a novel. I kept going with it because I expected it might pick up later on but I felt it only really hit its pace within the last sixty pages or so.
And then...whilst it was definitely more dramatic and exciting, it really went crazy silly with the "ants" and the "mother" and the mass suicides. They seemed just there to be a twist or a shock - they certainly didn't fit with the rest of the more human story. I guess most people thought that Jacobs was trying to find a way to "revive" his family and I honestly think, that whilst that was expected, it would have been a more fitting denouement to the story, even if it ultimately ended badly for Jacobs or Jamie (as is expected from a King novel - not many happy endings!).
I'm very saddened that I didn't enjoy the book and I wasn't overly keen on Finders Keepers (although I'd enjoyed Mr Mercedes), so I'm hoping that whatever comes next will "revive" my love for King's stories, as they've always been something I've very much been excited to read.
I started the book shortly after my holidays in September and now in mid-November I've finally finished it. This is a long time for me to read a King novel (especially one relatively short on pages), normally I just want to keep reading and even with the longer books I find the unique way King writes his characters and the narrative along the way is just as (if not more) exciting/interesting as the beginning and ending.
With Revival, the idea seemed really intriguing but unfortunately, to me, the execution just didn't live up to it. I didn't find myself drawn along with the story and I didn't even enjoy most of it as there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary exposition of Jamie's life and not enough of his interactions with Rev Jacobs. Normally, I don't mind character's backstories and in King's novels especially, these details are usually the highlights but in this book, I just didn't like the way it was described or written.
I'm not even sure I can pinpoint why but I felt the style of writing (not the actual plot) didn't feel like King's "groove" for want of a better word. It felt like something that he could have come up with the idea for but then someone else had actually written.
I hate to say it because I've read and enjoyed a good majority of his work but I just felt like this book was a chore to read - I feel like it should have been a short story but then he got carried away and made it into a novel. I kept going with it because I expected it might pick up later on but I felt it only really hit its pace within the last sixty pages or so.
And then...whilst it was definitely more dramatic and exciting, it really went crazy silly with the "ants" and the "mother" and the mass suicides. They seemed just there to be a twist or a shock - they certainly didn't fit with the rest of the more human story. I guess most people thought that Jacobs was trying to find a way to "revive" his family and I honestly think, that whilst that was expected, it would have been a more fitting denouement to the story, even if it ultimately ended badly for Jacobs or Jamie (as is expected from a King novel - not many happy endings!).
I'm very saddened that I didn't enjoy the book and I wasn't overly keen on Finders Keepers (although I'd enjoyed Mr Mercedes), so I'm hoping that whatever comes next will "revive" my love for King's stories, as they've always been something I've very much been excited to read.