Book Review for It, by Stephen King

★★★★

What I thought it would be going in:

It was my first Stephen King fiction book that I had read, and by what I knew about his work, I expected it to be scary. In terms of the plot, however, I’d already seen the movies and so I already knew what was going to happen, is was anything not translated into film that I wasn’t sure about.

My initial impressions:

Loved it. Great writing and great tension. I wasn’t terrified of reading the novel, but I was definitely drawn in and hooked and it was great to experience the thrill of reading about the familiar story and there were questions answered about the “lore” of the book.

My final impressions:

I actually couldn’t finish the book. I got right up to the end, but after the scene that was more or less child porn, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It just made me too uncomfortable. I’ve read a lot of confronting material, even as a kid, but there was something about this that I couldn’t compromise with, and so I just didn’t finish those last pages of the novel.

What I liked most:

The writing. There’s a reason that Stephen King is heralded as the king of horror. I can’t ordinarily critique it because it has been so long since I read it, but I just remember being immersed in the story.

What I disliked most:

The aforementioned scene.