Joyland - Stephen King
College studen Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark thruths about life - and what comes after - that would change his world forever.
I really liked the premise of this book - a murder in an amusement park, at least that’s what I thought it was about. It was more about Jonesy (that’s what the ‘carnies’ call him) and how he found his place among the Joyland people and what happens after the summer business is over.
What kept me reading was not necessarily the story itself, but I really, really liked the setting and the atmosphere that Stephen King created with this book. The main character was thrown into all that stuff and what was going on beyond the neon lights of the amusement park and I really liked those insights that I got. I also liked the characters, they were well-created and well-described. I just didn’t care for them as much as I did with other characters in other boooks - for example I didn’t cry at the end.
As for the murdered girl - the story didn’t really much revolve around her as I’d thought it would. She was more of a seldom-mentioned character that didn’t necessarily have a great part in the story. Even when her storyline ended (that’s about all I can say without spoilering anything) it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just gone.
Joyland had aspects of a crime/mystery book, I guess, because in the end - you can guess - they found the killer (which isn’t very surprising in a crime novel). And that’s all there was to it.
I’m not sure if I’d read this book again, but if so, I’d read it just for the atmosphere. And for the humour that was brought across. Stephen King did a very good job at this one. All in all, I thought it was a little slow-paced and long at times, but then again I’m not really sure. Let’s just go with this:
Many, many Stephen King tropes (main character from Maine, psychic kid, creepy and wise old men… you get it), but nevertheless it was an original story, although some of the characters had a familiar touch to them.
College studen Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark thruths about life - and what comes after - that would change his world forever.
I really liked the premise of this book - a murder in an amusement park, at least that’s what I thought it was about. It was more about Jonesy (that’s what the ‘carnies’ call him) and how he found his place among the Joyland people and what happens after the summer business is over.
What kept me reading was not necessarily the story itself, but I really, really liked the setting and the atmosphere that Stephen King created with this book. The main character was thrown into all that stuff and what was going on beyond the neon lights of the amusement park and I really liked those insights that I got. I also liked the characters, they were well-created and well-described. I just didn’t care for them as much as I did with other characters in other boooks - for example I didn’t cry at the end.
As for the murdered girl - the story didn’t really much revolve around her as I’d thought it would. She was more of a seldom-mentioned character that didn’t necessarily have a great part in the story. Even when her storyline ended (that’s about all I can say without spoilering anything) it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just gone.
Joyland had aspects of a crime/mystery book, I guess, because in the end - you can guess - they found the killer (which isn’t very surprising in a crime novel). And that’s all there was to it.
I’m not sure if I’d read this book again, but if so, I’d read it just for the atmosphere. And for the humour that was brought across. Stephen King did a very good job at this one. All in all, I thought it was a little slow-paced and long at times, but then again I’m not really sure. Let’s just go with this:
Many, many Stephen King tropes (main character from Maine, psychic kid, creepy and wise old men… you get it), but nevertheless it was an original story, although some of the characters had a familiar touch to them.
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