Revival

a little anti-climactic, in the sense that there is just soooooo much build up. still enjoyable.

: ...............

This book is classified as horror and for me personally there was nothing horrifying about it. I was intrigued in the first half of the book. I found myself very curious as to how Jacob's did what he did. Then the last half happened and I was just ugh about it. I wanted to know why Jacob's was so hell bent on his research. Like what was his end goal? The reveal was kind of disappointing and it got a bit to scientific? and went over my head. I don't have much else to say about this one. It was an ok read. It's not one I hate but it's definitely not a favorite for me either.

A slow beginning. However, SK manages to make the reader uncomfortable from the very start.
It's not a scary book, but it's definitely creepy and disturbing.
I was very intrigued by where the story was going.

3.5 / 5.0
Good story.
It wasn't scary as people were claiming it was.
I didn't hate the ending.

It's been a long time since I've been properly, jaw-dropping horrified by a novel. For all that Stephen King is known for less than stellar endings, this one he knocks out of the damn park; and while I can quibble that he slightly overdoes the full-circle callback stuff in the last third...screw it, this book earned it, with not another weak spot in sight. Emotionally and thematically resonant throughout, this is my favorite King novel by miles.

I'm a sucker for a narrative flashback and this one really hit the spot. Great characters and intriguing plot. The only thing stopping it being a 5 star book was a slightly less than conclusive ending.

Oof, that ending is going to haunt me until the end of time.



4 songs starting in E out of 5.

This is the third King book I've read, or not read as it happens, this year. DNF Lisey's Story and The Dark Half was just ok. But this, this book has definitely restored my faith in Stephen King, one of his best.

A good King, but not his best. Not his worst either. There are a few tropes that have been met before in pop culture such as the mad scientist trope and the whole lightning vibe Frankenstein movies have. As for Steohen King tropes, there are a few that I've seen in some of his previous novels, but not all of them were that bad. We have an old person that falls in love with someone younger, but that's not even the entire plot of the book. For a second I thought this would have been the fourth time when this happened in a King novel i read, but it was fine. The final plot twist was a tad different from what I was expecting, but overall a really solid modern horror read. I could compare it with Frankenstein because duh, lightning and corpses, and with Lovecraft's story, Herbert West reanimator. Again, this one is more of a 3.5 stars too.

I'm putting this one on the list of my favorites definitely. Not many books have managed to send chills down my spine since Simons' Summer of Night (true horror) but Revival is a masterpiece of Lovecraftian horror. The character development is crazy good and the Lovecraftian element was done so well that it kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting for something terrifying to happen.

The first part of the novel is slow and there is nothing out of ordinary happening, but exactly that creates a tense atmosphere as if there is something on the brink of happening (something will happen?) which culminates in one haunting image and a troubling sermon.

What a fascinating book! There are parts very powerful, almost philosophical, especially in the first part of the book and a good story overall. Yes, it is familiar King, but that's not necessarily a negative.

Nicely written novel about life, downfall and rise of main character, with subtle hints of horror..until the end, when it goes into full horror mode. One of the better endings, not because it is surprising and shocking, but because it leaves you thinking about it...and in fear of it. ‘Cause what's more scarier than unknown and what's more unknown than life beyond?

Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐

It's a return to form by King. Got the audio book. Highly recommended. Steven Morse did a great job reading the book. Have some patience on the first half for the book. It's sentimental (in a King way) and some may think it's drags the books down. I thought it just set everything up for the second half, which drives straight into familiar territory. I even liked the ending....which is a rare thing for this author. In the upper tier of the King libary.

It's been a few months since I read Revival and I still find myself thinking about it. This is the kind of book that crawls into your mind and finds a home there, rearing its wonderfully ugly head on occasion to remind you of the horrors contained within its pages. Most of my favorite King books are from his “heyday” in the '70s and '80s, but I think this one might just be lying in wait, ready to dethrone It as my all time favorite. Absolutely required reading for any horror fan.

Just a quick review on this one, since I've been trying to knock it off of my TBR for a good long while.

The ending of this book, actually probably the entire last quarter of this book, was utterly terrifying. It had me riveted, in normal King fashion. If only the whole first portion of this book hadn't felt like I was stuck in a giant pile of book quicksand, I would have absolutely loved Revival. Perhaps it was the audio book that I was listening to, but this felt like it had no traction for a good long while. It felt like, as Jamie kept saying, “Something Happened” but then it was lost beneath too much narrative. It just didn't work all that well for me.

What did just happened? !?!?

Not nearly as tense or “spooky” as I was expecting. As a matter of fact the ending is quite weak. But, besides that, it's still a great piece of Reading, quite light and easy to read, and it gets you hooked from the first moment. Maybe this is why the ending seems so weak: the rest of the book is so engaging that this lack of final punch leaves you with some weird after taste, a sensation that it could have been so much more.

I expected absolute fear and horror, and found a con man vested as a former religious figure just to throw in some fun, it seemed. Two stars for the narrative, fluid and colloquial as Mr King can do.

This was a decent book, but it definitely reflected the age of the author. Lots of nostalgia is indulged in, which kind of makes the story drag a little bit. But, the main story line itself is pretty decent. If it had been reduced down to a short story, something King used to be so good at, this would have been an excellent read.

I really enjoyed it. It's a good Lovecraftian tale with a focus on humanity and coming of age.

Holy Lovecraft, this is another excellent book by an author who will be remembered to future generations as Shakespeare is to ours.

I read this because I really loved Doctor Sleep, and found 11/22/63 compelling if imperfect. So I thought King might have his groove back. Plus, everyone told me this definitely had Lovecraftian themes. Sounded good!

I found it decidedly meh. The first three-quarters of the book is cumbersome setup that utterly failed to impart a sense of building doom, eldritch horror, or any real interest for me. All the horror in that section is confined to real-life, tragic headline sorts of horror, and that may work for some people, but it's definitely not what I'm looking for in my weird fiction.

King does eventually deliver on the Lovecraftian theme, with a concept that is admittedly very horrifying. But I found it undercut by his use of one element. No spoilers, but he did something that he literally wrote about as a weak point in horror in Danse Macabre, and so it kind of made me laugh, rather than shudder.

If you like Lovecraft, King's short stories “Jerusalem's Lot,” “N,” and even “Crouch End” are far superior, in my humble opinion.

I did like the homage to Lovecraft, the Necronomicon and Frankenstein because Charles “Danny” Jacobs is a mad scientist obsessed with electricity. Charlie/Danny starts his journey as a pastor who is only a little interested in electricity and what I'd call a hobbyist. By the last page when Jamie who is telling us this story and Charlie/Danny have their final battle so to speak the the antagonist has gone into full on obsession like only a good mad scientist can.

This book isn't one of my favorite of King, but I really liked the ending. Sometimes when I read Stephen King's books (not short stories) I'm all “WOW” This is GREAT! This book is scaring me a lot


Then BAMMMM!


At least this time it made sense and I think it had great build up. Jamie was just okay as a character but I did enjoy the malevolence of the antagonist. It was definitely well written. Wish we'd had more of it but I'll be satisfied with the amount I got and the great climax.