Joyland by Stephen King [review]

[BookW00rm]

Joyland is the story of a young teenage boy who finds a job at a carnival; at the carnival he discovers unsolved mysteries that he must resolve. The book gives great insight into the work that goes behind running a carnival and I also like how the book is set in the early 70's (1973 to be exact). This book left me disappointed because it did not meet my standards for a STEPHEN KING creation. I have fairly high standards for Stephen King books. The writing style of the book was great as usual. Stephen King really knows how to paint vivid images with words but I only wish the story wasn't so cliche. We've seen and heard of it all before, numerous stories of horror at a carnival. Besides his great writing style the other pro of this book would be that it's a simple read. This book can be read during those days we are busy with our daily lives and don't have much time for reading complicated books involving too much brain power. Overall, I'd say this book feels like something King probably wrote when bored.

Pros: Easy (fast) read and excellent writing style (Stephen King never fails in writing style)
Cons: Cliche storyline
Rating: 7/10

[manda2286]

Honestly to me sounds like a good book but I do know what you mean. I will check it out for sure.

[Lea Letters]

In "Joyland" Stephen King transports the reader to a magical place. He is able to envelope the reader in the childlike excitement of the carnival with the sinister side of carny life. His ability to connect the readers with the characters so quickly and deeply is one of the hallmarks of his writing genius. I found this an enchanting story by a master storyteller.

[sthevenletada]

This is another great book by Stephen King. I'll definitely read this.

[ananya92]

I read this book some time back. Honestly, I felt King has written better books than this, though this one was enjoyable too. The whole Carnival element was well done, but eventually it fell into the same pattern as other King novels.

[Carla Hurst-Chandler]

I seriously feel like this was one of Stephen King's best works. Nice Coming of Age story.

[michelleridlon]

I read a Stephen King book again a couple of years ago, returning for a peek at his writing after years of having abandoned him. The book "Doctor Death" aka--The Shining II was disappointing and was ALSO written with a traveling carnival as the group antagonist though, of course, there was a primary antagonist that was in the carnival as well. And let's not forget "Thinner," the antagonist again being a gypsy in a traveling carnival of gypsies. I will not read another Stephen King book with a carnival as the setting or one of the settings. New book--it should be a new setting. Stephen King is much, much too good to be writing redundant settings.

[HUDZY]

Can't beat a Carnival story. I'll definitely give this book a read.

[jameepage]

I am a huge Stephen King fan and I have to say, I honestly loved Joyland! I think it is refreshing when King writes a book that is not horror. King does include some drama and scary moments with the carnival workers; however, it is not a typical horror book. I liked the heartfelt issues in the book and think it is a good break from the norm for King.

[Mike_Lang]

Read it a few months back and wasn't terribly impressed. Not that it's a bad book but since it was published under the Hard Case Crime imprint I had expected it to be more, you know, hard case-y and crime-ish. Not so much of either.