11/22/63 in Overdue Podcast

Dec 11, 2013 Chris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: five-star, sci-fi, historical-fiction

I just finished this book after only about a week, and I'm honestly speechless. I have never felt this emotional after finishing a book in a LONG time. I'm still thinking about it hours later, which rarely happens! This is only my second Stephen King book I've read (Under the Dome being the other), and it makes me really want to read others! This was not the typical Stephen King horror/thriller I wouldn't say, but it was still very well done. More detailed review below!

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***Spo I just finished this book after only about a week, and I'm honestly speechless. I have never felt this emotional after finishing a book in a LONG time. I'm still thinking about it hours later, which rarely happens! This is only my second Stephen King book I've read (Under the Dome being the other), and it makes me really want to read others! This was not the typical Stephen King horror/thriller I wouldn't say, but it was still very well done. More detailed review below!

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***Spoiler Alert***
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This book was honestly a page turner from Page 1 for me. I liked that the action began almost right from the start, with Jake's emotional reading of Harry's story. Then from there, it did not take long for the time-traveling action to begin. One frustrating aspect of this was that we did not find out exactly who the "Yellow/Green/Black/etc-Card Man" was until the very end of the book. It had me wondering nearly the entire book who he was. I am also still having trouble imagining just how the time travel worked, with "imaginary" steps, but it was definitely a different concept for sure.

I can't imagine how exhausting it was for Jake/George to get all the way to saving Harry's family's life, then have to repeat all that again, with the seemingly awful town of Derry. Then, later on, we get to him meeting Sadie. Oh god, Sadie. What an emotional roller coaster that part of the story was. I had this feeling that all would turn out well with them in the end. I thought for sure George/Jake would do the deed to Lee then stay in the past with Sadie and live in the past happily. I never thought he would tell her the truth about everything. After that, I thought, for sure, again, that he would bring her to the future and we would get a peek at their life in present day. Then when she got shot, I thought for sure George/Jake would go back yet again to the past and try to make everything perfect.

Boy was I wrong about all of this.

I want to strangle him for just giving up on seeing/saving Sadie again. I understand the ripple effect, but I thought he would actually let Kennedy get killed if it meant living a happy life with Sadie. However, he did no such thing. When he was in present-day and looked up Sadie on the internet, I'm not sure if it was incredibly happy or sad when he met her 80-year old self and danced with her like they used to. I'm not sure if this was the "perfect" ending, but it definitely gave the emotional response I think King wanted.

Oh, right, the main point of the story. I found the stalking Lee Oswald part thrilling as well. For the book being named 11/22/63, however, I don't think there was enough of this. Most of the story had to do with his life with Sadie in Jodie. Later on, the actual 11/22/63 was only a fraction of the book. And as stated above, it did not turn out well at all. Nor did it turn out well in the future at all. I couldn't believe how horrible the world was with Kennedy alive. I'm still confused on how earthquakes would've been caused by all this, but it really added to the story. I could easily picture what the "new" 2011 looked like, almost like a post-apocalyptic movie.

Final point: I LOVED this book, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone, even if they are not an avid Stephen King fan, as I was not when I started this. I can't wait to read his other work now. ...more

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Jan 01, 2015 Kate rated it it was ok

Far too long! King could cut this down by half and not lose the storyline.
I liked the ending it was a good twist but took far too long to get there that I found myself relieved that the book was over rather than excited by the twist.

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Jul 23, 2016 Abigail Advincula rated it liked it

My main takeaway from this story:

Choosing to change the past might to make things "better" in the present is dicey business. Proceed with caution - or don't proceed at all. ...more

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Mar 05, 2019 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-harder

As a lover of historical fiction, this book kept me engaged despite its 800 pages. This book was different than many other Stephen King books that I have read. There were no mind-scarring scenes of torture. It seemed to be a way for King to vent his conspiracy theory ideas. As someone not entirely familiar with the Kennedy Assassination, it allowed me some facts that were new to me and very surprising to hear!

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