Book Review #1: The shining (#1) by Stephen King and 5 horror book recommendations:

Book: The Shining

Series: The Shining Duology (#1)

Author: Stephen king

Pages: 447 pg.

Date read: 5/6/18

Rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

"Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old."

My Review:

I know that this isn't YA but I thought I would go ahead and review it as it was the first book that I finished for June so I thought I would go ahead and review it. The books that I recommend will mostly be young adult though. I love reading horror stories and knew that when I saw Stephen King's books I knew I would have to try one to see if I would enjoy it. The book is set at a hotel called The Overlook in Colorado Throughout the book we hear from Jack Torrance, Wendy and Danny Torrance as they stay at the hotel to make sure that it is taken care of during the winter. Instantly Danny notices that all is not what it seems in the house.

I was a little disappointed when I finished this book because I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but I thought there were some things that were interesting. First I'll talk about the things that I didn't really enjoy, and then I'll move to the things that i did like.

Things I didn't like:

- The language. I honestly wasn't a fan of the language in this book. There were quite a few times where I had to either skip a couple of pages or just skim through them.

- I wasn't a huge fan of Jack Torrance but when I finished the book I understood how he and his family got to where they did.

Things I did like:

- I thought the interaction between past events that the characters thought about in the story and the events that lead up to the end of the book were interesting. It showed how the hotel changed the characters.

- Danny was probably the most interesting character and I thought it was interesting that he was the only one who could instantly see what was happening within the hotel.

- I thought the history of the hotel was also interesting, though I do wish there had been some more information about the events that occurred. There may be more coming up in Doctor sleep though, which i am thinking about reading.

- I also thought the descriptions of the hotel and the events that occurred in the story were really interesting as well.

Would I recommend this book?

Yes! While I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, I will still recommend it to other people who are looking for a good horror book. I would warn you that there is a lot of language in it but I still think it is a great book..

Here are also 5 horror recommendations if you are looking for other horror books:

(Each link will take the titles to their respective summaries/authors o Goodreads).

1. Alfred Hitchcock - I've heard that a lot of his books are really good though I have never picked one up.I will definitely be looking into his books soon though.

2. It by Stephen King - This is another one of Stephen Kings books that is supposed to be really good. This is about a group of kids that live in a town in Pennsylvania that have to come back and face a creature that haunts the city. This is also based on the new movie IT as well.

3. The girl from the well (#1) by Rin Chupeco - This is a story that is based on a legend of Okiku in Japan. It was a very interesting story and definitely scary though I did think it was a little slow at times. I would recommend it to those that are looking for a good young adult book though.

4. Welcome to the dark by Laurie Faria Stolarz - The summary of this story is that seven essay contestants have a chance to be in on a producer's latest project. I have personally not read this one yet but I've heard that it is supposed to be really good.

5. Amity by Micol Ostow - This is apparently based on a true story of a house called Amity though I'm not entirely sure. This story is told from two different characters about a house that has a mind of it's own. I have not read it yet but I've seen a lot of reviews for it

Until next time,

Marybeth