Marianna’s review of The Institute > Likes and Comments
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As much as I enjoyed the book, I have mad respect for your review. Maybe I didn’t find it as derivative since I don’t watch a lot of stuff.
I agree, I read all of his older books except for the stand, and I could finish them in a day or two. I am going on day number 11 with this and I still can't get halfway through it. It is due on Wednesday, and I fear I am not going to make it. What happened to plain scary stuff? I could read Christine, Carrie, pet sematary, The Shining, The Dead Zone and Cujo in a day.
I see this a lot from fans of his earlier work. Writers evolve, sometimes you have to read between the lines. He’s a different writer today than 30-40 years ago. That’s life, people evolve. Appreciate the review but I’m inclined to disagree. I find his latest works more in tune to what’s going on in society at large. Just an observation.
100% AGREE. I don't understand everyones infatuation with King these days. Everything he writes averages above 4 stars on here yet I struggled to even finish anything besides Doctor Sleep. I guess I am the naïve one for coming back time and time again...
I agree on the forced pop culture references. I see this a lot these days (and it's not the first time it annoys me in a King novel). I haven't read the whole book yet, so I can't say anything more about it yet. I don't thing it's bad, but I also don't really care for most of the characters. Luke is okay, but the rest.. 🤷🏻♀️ I also get some serious 'Fringe' vibes from the plot. There are many similarities so far..
I agree!! Did we read the same book as most of these people?!?
Urgh. Sounds like I can throw it off my want-to-read-list. Thank you for saving me time and nerves!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I've been reading this for days and thinking what a drudgery. I was ready to put it on my DNF shelf, then read your review and DID put it on my DNF shelf. I refuse to waste precious reading hours on this book.
Agree, I found the pop culture references distracting. There were too many. I also felt, as with the Mr. Mercedes series, the so called heroes come off as arrogant.
My review sounded a lot like yours - glad that i have a fellow minority group that don't get blindsided by a big name.
Finally a review that describes how I feel about this book. I was starting to feel an alien after seeing the 5 starts reviews. This book was boring and plain
Thank you! You are more generous than I am. I only gave 1 star. King's stories have become more and more YA recently. I also, hated the Outsider. The tone of his books do not even match is older works which makes me think that he truly is retired and that someone else is writing these stories and slapping Stephen Kings name on the cover. When a name sells millions of books you need to step back and think. The last book published under his name that actually felt like a King book was 11/22/63. Since that I'm going to need hard proof that he is still writing.
Thanks for the warning...guess I'll just keep falling asleep 😴😴while listening to it! Lol
I was considering not finishing this book and now I know I am not reading any more. It’s just not grabbing my attention and I’ve read over 1/2 of the book. What a waste of time.
Agree with the review, just finished it and totally amazed how it can be so highly rated..
THANK YOU! The whole book I'm thinking 'How is this so highly rated?!' I feel like this story has been done before in another novel, but can't pinpoint what it is. I also thought 'Why are these kids talking like this?'😂
Me too about the kids’ dialogue! Mr. King needs to hang out with a few real kids of the 21st century before he writes another novel starring kids with klunky outdated dialogue. I couldn’t take it! They sounded like a bunch of grandpas
Outstanding review! I agree and couldn't have said it better myself. thanks for helping me feel a little less crazy for not agreeing with all of the 4 and 5 star reviews :)
As a teacher every single time the kids spoke I was like '... Has he not heard a child speak to another child since his kids were in diapers?'
Also the 'Trump is dumb' fist bump to show it was current day at the end while they're meeting who is literally one of the most evil people on the planet... just felt so... Weird... And disjointed.
I couldn't agree more... This and "The Dome" are my least favorite SK novels. They both feel as thought SK got lazy - characters poorly written, unconvincing, illogical.. I mean come on... (spoiler) Luke is supposed to be a genius - why the hell didn't he use the internet to contact authorities?
This review is correct. He writes good, page-turning prose that will carry most readers through this clumsy, forced slog of a story but I can't imagine a critical look at this any different from what you've shared. The fact is that he can get away with being lazy because he's good enough at his craft. It was particularly painful to notice how much he was ripping off other writers' styles in this one (for example George Saunders' approach to inner monologue).
I've been King's fan since childhood, and the exact things you stated kept running through my head while reading it. I thought maybe I was depressed, so I looked online to see what the world (Goodreads, lol) thought, and became convinced that I'm the crazy person until I finally came across your review.
There are definitely great, masterful bits scattered throughout the book, but overall the entire thing felt forced. I'm pretty heartbroken over this, but hope King comes out with more of the masterpieces I grew up on. Thank you for your review!
I'm surprised more people aren't mentioning the outdated dialogue and references from the kids. He dedicated the book to his grandchildren. I don't know why he didn't run some of the references by them. I guess editors just get lazy with these things if it comes from an author like King.
Yes to all! Also, maybe beating a dead King horse, but why, oh why, is the first thing he describes about EVERY FEMALE her breasts or hips. Seriously?? Even the children. So. Gross. And demeaning. And derivative. And pervy, in the case of Helen & Kalisha. Maybe describe her face, hair, or heaven forbid: personality. I read it for a book club, so pride demanded I finish, but man, he lost me after not only everyone else's issues with the dialogue (I teach middle school and sure, kids can swear, but no way do parents talk like that in front of their kids), pop culture (and worse: usually references to pop culture that was relevant when Gen X were kids), and the too-slow burn of the first half, but also the blatant, out-of-place sexualization of every non-penis haver. Arguably one of the worst things I have read in a long time.
Agreed. It's feeling like King was out of ideas so he picked four or five already done plots and jumbled them together hoping readers wouldn't notice.
I would like my reading time back please.
Abby wrote: " why, is the first thing he describes about EVERY FEMALE her breasts or hips. Seriously?? Even the children. So. Gross. And demeaning. ..."
Yes I noticed that too. He does it in other books too.
Couldn’t agree more, I’m actually blowing away about the ratings!
Thank you, I am halfway through the audiobook and I feel... nothing. Except boredom and annoyance.
I respect your review and see where you are coming from but I personally loved it and all its references as 'dated' as they may be and that is coming from a 16 year old. It seems a lot of 'older' people are agreeing with you and while I understand your point and view I just feel as a 16 year old that king capture and represented the kids mind so well, sure maybe there could have been more speech in the institute about how they miss their phones but other then that I feel for a kid living in the east (like around the same area this book is taking place) he did a damn good job! And sure maybe it is a overdone plot and not that creative considering all the books that have the same premise, but I feel he did a good job with it, even though I am disappointed that he didn't add a twist or something majorly unexpected like how he does with all is classics.
Oooof this was my first SK read and it was truly staggeringly awful. I came to Goodreads to bask in negative reviews and am so shocked by the 4+ star reviews. Did they receive a different version of the book then I did?!
I'm with you on this one, dear Marianna. I also felt like this one was kind of disappointing, just as I stated in my review.
I concur. It just went on and on! The kids dialogue was ridiculous. SPOILER ALERT! The idea that they'd give the kids laptops with internet access!? Frankly I gave up. Sorry SK but that's two howlers in a row. The only thing that stopped me hurling it at the wall in disgust when I finished it, as I did with The Outsider, was not finishing it.
I respect your review, but I disagree with it. I absolutely loved this book! I didn't think it was unoriginal (granted, I don't watch much TV, and most of the books I read are SciFi and Fantasy). I was at the edge of my seat for almost the entire book. I did find the ending of it dragged a little (I think it could have been cut down a little in editing), but it wasn't enough to be a big deal to me.
I agree that many kids in the book didn't speak like real-life kids, but I must admit that if they *did* the book would have been unreadable for me, so I'm very happy with King's choice on that one! Also, given how the main character is a child prodigy with an IQ that is off the charts, I think it makes sense that he doesn't sound like a kid.
Just my two cents!
Yeah, after struggling through 1OO pages I had to give up. No time to lose with kindergarten bores
I kept wondering if I read the same book, when I saw the number of positive reviews. I did not like the book but I got through to the end. It has to be one of the worst books from Stephen King I have read.
Amy wrote: "I respect your review, but I disagree with it. I absolutely loved this book! I didn't think it was unoriginal (granted, I don't watch much TV, and most of the books I read are SciFi and Fantasy). I..."
I have to agree with you Amy. I enjoyed the book and found myself caring about the kids.
Yeah this is my first SK book and i am just so underwhelmed :( Around 60% in and i am so bored i don’t think i will be picking another book by him unfortunately
Agree wholeheartedly with this review and I can't get my head around why there are so many positive reviews. This book bored me to tears, nothing happens for huge parts of it and by the end I really didn't care what happened, I just wanted it to end! I enjoy SK books mostly but this is by far the worst I have read. Got to the point I dreaded picking it up to finish it.
Yes! His political jabs annoyed me beyond belief. He needs to keep his political opinion out of his books.
The modern day references really got me giggling every time. King out of the blue: Rihanna! Trump! Game of Thrones! Uber! It felt very boomer lol.
I must ask, because I found it so funny: can you CALL an Uber in the US? Here in Sweden you order them through the app, not possible to call one.
I try not to hate on books, because they are hard to write, but I'm with you on this one.
I agree with everything you say... And I also want to add that I felt like the book wasn't written by king at all at some points... Some dialogues and some scenes just didn't seem as amazing and well written as Stephen King's previous work... I don't know what to say... He is my all time Favourite author but I am really dissaponted by this book
I agree completely, I don't get the praise for this book!!!
FINALLY
I thought that I was the only one shocked by how people praised this book, I agree with everything you said, not to mention the fact that this book put me in a reader block. It’s the first king that I read and now I don’t know if I should give the others a chance
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As much as I enjoyed the book, I have mad respect for your review. Maybe I didn’t find it as derivative since I don’t watch a lot of stuff.
I agree, I read all of his older books except for the stand, and I could finish them in a day or two. I am going on day number 11 with this and I still can't get halfway through it. It is due on Wednesday, and I fear I am not going to make it. What happened to plain scary stuff? I could read Christine, Carrie, pet sematary, The Shining, The Dead Zone and Cujo in a day.
I see this a lot from fans of his earlier work. Writers evolve, sometimes you have to read between the lines. He’s a different writer today than 30-40 years ago. That’s life, people evolve. Appreciate the review but I’m inclined to disagree. I find his latest works more in tune to what’s going on in society at large. Just an observation.
100% AGREE. I don't understand everyones infatuation with King these days. Everything he writes averages above 4 stars on here yet I struggled to even finish anything besides Doctor Sleep. I guess I am the naïve one for coming back time and time again...
I agree on the forced pop culture references. I see this a lot these days (and it's not the first time it annoys me in a King novel). I haven't read the whole book yet, so I can't say anything more about it yet. I don't thing it's bad, but I also don't really care for most of the characters. Luke is okay, but the rest.. 🤷🏻♀️ I also get some serious 'Fringe' vibes from the plot. There are many similarities so far..
I agree!! Did we read the same book as most of these people?!?
Urgh. Sounds like I can throw it off my want-to-read-list. Thank you for saving me time and nerves!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I've been reading this for days and thinking what a drudgery. I was ready to put it on my DNF shelf, then read your review and DID put it on my DNF shelf. I refuse to waste precious reading hours on this book.
Agree, I found the pop culture references distracting. There were too many. I also felt, as with the Mr. Mercedes series, the so called heroes come off as arrogant.
My review sounded a lot like yours - glad that i have a fellow minority group that don't get blindsided by a big name.
Finally a review that describes how I feel about this book. I was starting to feel an alien after seeing the 5 starts reviews. This book was boring and plain
Thank you! You are more generous than I am. I only gave 1 star. King's stories have become more and more YA recently. I also, hated the Outsider. The tone of his books do not even match is older works which makes me think that he truly is retired and that someone else is writing these stories and slapping Stephen Kings name on the cover. When a name sells millions of books you need to step back and think. The last book published under his name that actually felt like a King book was 11/22/63. Since that I'm going to need hard proof that he is still writing.
Thanks for the warning...guess I'll just keep falling asleep 😴😴while listening to it! Lol
I was considering not finishing this book and now I know I am not reading any more. It’s just not grabbing my attention and I’ve read over 1/2 of the book. What a waste of time.
Agree with the review, just finished it and totally amazed how it can be so highly rated..
THANK YOU! The whole book I'm thinking 'How is this so highly rated?!' I feel like this story has been done before in another novel, but can't pinpoint what it is. I also thought 'Why are these kids talking like this?'😂
Me too about the kids’ dialogue! Mr. King needs to hang out with a few real kids of the 21st century before he writes another novel starring kids with klunky outdated dialogue. I couldn’t take it! They sounded like a bunch of grandpas
Outstanding review! I agree and couldn't have said it better myself. thanks for helping me feel a little less crazy for not agreeing with all of the 4 and 5 star reviews :)
As a teacher every single time the kids spoke I was like '... Has he not heard a child speak to another child since his kids were in diapers?'Also the 'Trump is dumb' fist bump to show it was current day at the end while they're meeting who is literally one of the most evil people on the planet... just felt so... Weird... And disjointed.
I couldn't agree more... This and "The Dome" are my least favorite SK novels. They both feel as thought SK got lazy - characters poorly written, unconvincing, illogical.. I mean come on... (spoiler) Luke is supposed to be a genius - why the hell didn't he use the internet to contact authorities?
This review is correct. He writes good, page-turning prose that will carry most readers through this clumsy, forced slog of a story but I can't imagine a critical look at this any different from what you've shared. The fact is that he can get away with being lazy because he's good enough at his craft. It was particularly painful to notice how much he was ripping off other writers' styles in this one (for example George Saunders' approach to inner monologue).
I've been King's fan since childhood, and the exact things you stated kept running through my head while reading it. I thought maybe I was depressed, so I looked online to see what the world (Goodreads, lol) thought, and became convinced that I'm the crazy person until I finally came across your review.There are definitely great, masterful bits scattered throughout the book, but overall the entire thing felt forced. I'm pretty heartbroken over this, but hope King comes out with more of the masterpieces I grew up on. Thank you for your review!
I'm surprised more people aren't mentioning the outdated dialogue and references from the kids. He dedicated the book to his grandchildren. I don't know why he didn't run some of the references by them. I guess editors just get lazy with these things if it comes from an author like King.
Yes to all! Also, maybe beating a dead King horse, but why, oh why, is the first thing he describes about EVERY FEMALE her breasts or hips. Seriously?? Even the children. So. Gross. And demeaning. And derivative. And pervy, in the case of Helen & Kalisha. Maybe describe her face, hair, or heaven forbid: personality. I read it for a book club, so pride demanded I finish, but man, he lost me after not only everyone else's issues with the dialogue (I teach middle school and sure, kids can swear, but no way do parents talk like that in front of their kids), pop culture (and worse: usually references to pop culture that was relevant when Gen X were kids), and the too-slow burn of the first half, but also the blatant, out-of-place sexualization of every non-penis haver. Arguably one of the worst things I have read in a long time.
Agreed. It's feeling like King was out of ideas so he picked four or five already done plots and jumbled them together hoping readers wouldn't notice. I would like my reading time back please.
Abby wrote: " why, is the first thing he describes about EVERY FEMALE her breasts or hips. Seriously?? Even the children. So. Gross. And demeaning. ..."Yes I noticed that too. He does it in other books too.
Couldn’t agree more, I’m actually blowing away about the ratings!
Thank you, I am halfway through the audiobook and I feel... nothing. Except boredom and annoyance.
I respect your review and see where you are coming from but I personally loved it and all its references as 'dated' as they may be and that is coming from a 16 year old. It seems a lot of 'older' people are agreeing with you and while I understand your point and view I just feel as a 16 year old that king capture and represented the kids mind so well, sure maybe there could have been more speech in the institute about how they miss their phones but other then that I feel for a kid living in the east (like around the same area this book is taking place) he did a damn good job! And sure maybe it is a overdone plot and not that creative considering all the books that have the same premise, but I feel he did a good job with it, even though I am disappointed that he didn't add a twist or something majorly unexpected like how he does with all is classics.
Oooof this was my first SK read and it was truly staggeringly awful. I came to Goodreads to bask in negative reviews and am so shocked by the 4+ star reviews. Did they receive a different version of the book then I did?!
I'm with you on this one, dear Marianna. I also felt like this one was kind of disappointing, just as I stated in my review.
I concur. It just went on and on! The kids dialogue was ridiculous. SPOILER ALERT! The idea that they'd give the kids laptops with internet access!? Frankly I gave up. Sorry SK but that's two howlers in a row. The only thing that stopped me hurling it at the wall in disgust when I finished it, as I did with The Outsider, was not finishing it.
I respect your review, but I disagree with it. I absolutely loved this book! I didn't think it was unoriginal (granted, I don't watch much TV, and most of the books I read are SciFi and Fantasy). I was at the edge of my seat for almost the entire book. I did find the ending of it dragged a little (I think it could have been cut down a little in editing), but it wasn't enough to be a big deal to me.I agree that many kids in the book didn't speak like real-life kids, but I must admit that if they *did* the book would have been unreadable for me, so I'm very happy with King's choice on that one! Also, given how the main character is a child prodigy with an IQ that is off the charts, I think it makes sense that he doesn't sound like a kid.
Just my two cents!
Yeah, after struggling through 1OO pages I had to give up. No time to lose with kindergarten bores
I kept wondering if I read the same book, when I saw the number of positive reviews. I did not like the book but I got through to the end. It has to be one of the worst books from Stephen King I have read.
Amy wrote: "I respect your review, but I disagree with it. I absolutely loved this book! I didn't think it was unoriginal (granted, I don't watch much TV, and most of the books I read are SciFi and Fantasy). I..."I have to agree with you Amy. I enjoyed the book and found myself caring about the kids.
Yeah this is my first SK book and i am just so underwhelmed :( Around 60% in and i am so bored i don’t think i will be picking another book by him unfortunately
Agree wholeheartedly with this review and I can't get my head around why there are so many positive reviews. This book bored me to tears, nothing happens for huge parts of it and by the end I really didn't care what happened, I just wanted it to end! I enjoy SK books mostly but this is by far the worst I have read. Got to the point I dreaded picking it up to finish it.
Yes! His political jabs annoyed me beyond belief. He needs to keep his political opinion out of his books.
The modern day references really got me giggling every time. King out of the blue: Rihanna! Trump! Game of Thrones! Uber! It felt very boomer lol.I must ask, because I found it so funny: can you CALL an Uber in the US? Here in Sweden you order them through the app, not possible to call one.
I try not to hate on books, because they are hard to write, but I'm with you on this one.
I agree with everything you say... And I also want to add that I felt like the book wasn't written by king at all at some points... Some dialogues and some scenes just didn't seem as amazing and well written as Stephen King's previous work... I don't know what to say... He is my all time Favourite author but I am really dissaponted by this book
I agree completely, I don't get the praise for this book!!!
FINALLY I thought that I was the only one shocked by how people praised this book, I agree with everything you said, not to mention the fact that this book put me in a reader block. It’s the first king that I read and now I don’t know if I should give the others a chance
My theory is that people are giving this one a pass because it's Stephen King. And hey, I get the hype, I love Stephen King myself. But having read mostly his older stuff I just don't know how someone can read things like "Pet Sematary", "The Shining", etc., and then read "The Institute" and think "yea, that was great!"