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Always Pouting's Reviews > It
It
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Derry, Maine seems like any other small town in the US except for its dark history. Death and disappearances are the norm and every 27 years they peak as more and more children are killed. When Bill's brother Georgie is killed by It, the mysterious thing behind Derry's darkness, Bill sets out to find it. Bill becomes part of a group of other children, all who have had run ins with It and together they get rid of It. They swear an oath to return to Derry if It ever comes back and starts killing and 27 years later they all return to face down It and try to get rid of It once and for all. Don't read past this point because I can't promise anything about no spoilers.
I finally finished this god damn tome of a book, and I really wish I weren't so compulsive and obsessive about finishing every book I start because wow that was 1400 pages and I couldn't get into the story at all. Also I have a few questions and I feel like I may have missed something so if someone could answer these questions I would appreciate it and maybe then I might feel better about the book. First off it's mentioned that none of gang have children and it's alluded to as being part of what happened the first time with It but I didn't understand what that had to do with anything? Was there an actual explanation to this or was it just supposed to be there to be ~creepy~. Second why did they have to go out of their way to find It and get rid of it that first time, if It has cycles of 27 years wouldn't It eventually just have stopped on its own anyways because there's no way someone banished it every time it appeared because they're supposedly the only ones to have done so. Lastly what was the point of them having sex in the sewer, I'm not a prude but having 12 year olds do it in the sewer should have a better explanation than to bring them all together and bond them. I don't see how they had to do at all did he just put that in there to be outrageous because good job it worked.
At times I did enjoy the book but it was just really long with so many characters and details and a lot of the time I felt myself getting bored like I didn't need such exact descriptions of the boat flowing down the sewer and the way it kept cutting back and forth especially towards the end between past and present just felt choppy and maybe that was the point but it just made me not get really into the book. When I read horror I have to lose some self awareness and get pulled in so I can be creeped out but the whole time I was too aware that I was reading a book and I just kept feeling like it wasn't scary at all. Especially with It morphing constantly like werewolves don't freak me out so I was just like wow a werewolf thats cool I guess.
I do like Stephen King and he writes very well but this one just did not work for me and I guess I just missed something because everyone else seems to have really enjoyed this book.
I finally finished this god damn tome of a book, and I really wish I weren't so compulsive and obsessive about finishing every book I start because wow that was 1400 pages and I couldn't get into the story at all. Also I have a few questions and I feel like I may have missed something so if someone could answer these questions I would appreciate it and maybe then I might feel better about the book. First off it's mentioned that none of gang have children and it's alluded to as being part of what happened the first time with It but I didn't understand what that had to do with anything? Was there an actual explanation to this or was it just supposed to be there to be ~creepy~. Second why did they have to go out of their way to find It and get rid of it that first time, if It has cycles of 27 years wouldn't It eventually just have stopped on its own anyways because there's no way someone banished it every time it appeared because they're supposedly the only ones to have done so. Lastly what was the point of them having sex in the sewer, I'm not a prude but having 12 year olds do it in the sewer should have a better explanation than to bring them all together and bond them. I don't see how they had to do at all did he just put that in there to be outrageous because good job it worked.
At times I did enjoy the book but it was just really long with so many characters and details and a lot of the time I felt myself getting bored like I didn't need such exact descriptions of the boat flowing down the sewer and the way it kept cutting back and forth especially towards the end between past and present just felt choppy and maybe that was the point but it just made me not get really into the book. When I read horror I have to lose some self awareness and get pulled in so I can be creeped out but the whole time I was too aware that I was reading a book and I just kept feeling like it wasn't scary at all. Especially with It morphing constantly like werewolves don't freak me out so I was just like wow a werewolf thats cool I guess.
I do like Stephen King and he writes very well but this one just did not work for me and I guess I just missed something because everyone else seems to have really enjoyed this book.
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Reading Progress
June 18, 2017
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Started Reading
June 18, 2017
– Shelved
July 4, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 61 (61 new)
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De'Siree
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Jul 04, 2017 10:31AM
Was it that bad? Or you aren't partial to horror?
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De'Siree wrote: "Was it that bad? Or you aren't partial to horror?"Not sure why i couldn't get into it, it just didn't feel scary to me at all
I felt the same way! It wasn't scary, more like creepy. I was surprised by how I got attached to some of the characters and I admit that I cried a little it in the ending.
Nazanin wrote: "Oh boy! 😔"Sara wrote: "I hate when that happens *ugh*"
I rewrote it but it's shorter because whatever
Fefe wrote: "I felt the same way! It wasn't scary, more like creepy. I was surprised by how I got attached to some of the characters and I admit that I cried a little it in the ending."I'm glad you enjoyed it I personally didn't get attached to the characters there were just so many of them and so much going on that I just felt like whatever lol
I thought it was great but I agree, it's very hard to get into. I almost gave up.
I also was in a similar situation with his book revival, it was good the first few pages and then I couldn't get into the story at all but I had to suffer because I don't like not finishing books!
I have trouble with It too. It's very slow going. I can't really answer your other questions but at least for the reason they won't have children: I think it was because they were scared It would come back for their kids if they did have any, so they just didn't. I do like the movie though so I really hope they don't screw up this remake the way half of King's books are screwed up on tv/film.
One of my fav's.....Sorry it didn't work for you. :-(
Hope you'll be more lucky with another book of SK! :) Great review, lovely :)
Chloe wrote: "The weird sex stuff between children is the reason I just don't want to read this book.. great review as always, you are goals"Same I feel you, for some reason anything with sex and kids just makes me feel like why about the whole thing when authors do it because I haven't seen it ever be used in a way that felt like it wasn't trying to exploit the shock value but youre so sweet :)
Jessica wrote: "I thought it was great but I agree, it's very hard to get into. I almost gave up."Yeah no I can see the appeal it just didn't really work for me, there were parts when I started really getting into it though but then the scene would change and I was just like ugh again
Hamad wrote: "I also was in a similar situation with his book revival, it was good the first few pages and then I couldn't get into the story at all but I had to suffer because I don't like not finishing books!"I actually think I enjoyed revival more but I only liked that one until towards the end but I totally get where youre coming from, King tries to build up a slow burn and add tons of details and sometimes it can be hard to get immersed into the story
Sarah wrote: "I have trouble with It too. It's very slow going. I can't really answer your other questions but at least for the reason they won't have children: I think it was because they were scared It would c..."That's not the reason because a lot of them tried for children and it just didn't happen for some reason though that would make a pretty good explanation other wise but I haven't seen the other movie version of this yet though my boyfriend wants to go see the new one
Carol wrote: "One of my fav's.....Sorry it didn't work for you. :-("It's ok! I'm glad you enjoy it though :)
Scott wrote: ""this god damn tome of a book" (LOL)"LBR
Orient wrote: "Hope you'll be more lucky with another book of SK! :) Great review, lovely :)"I really loved Misery and Carrie! thanks :)
Try it as an Audiobook. SK recommends listening as a way of getting a different perspective on a book.
Some of your comments in this review made me laugh for quite a while! As I do those same things when reading his books from time to tone and when I did when I was a teenager reading this. It was like come on... stop describing stupid things!!! Oh you crack me up. Thanks for that. Good review also.
I tried to read this one but like Carrie, the book got boring after Chapter 1 so had to give up on both. Stephen King has some good Diamonds in the rough of his novels but It and Carrie were misses for me.
Lance wrote: "Try it as an Audiobook. SK recommends listening as a way of getting a different perspective on a book."Maybe I hate audio books because I don't have the patience to sit and listen and also this book was so long I don't even want to think about how long the audio book will take
Shaina wrote: "Some of your comments in this review made me laugh for quite a while! As I do those same things when reading his books from time to tone and when I did when I was a teenager reading this. It was li..."Thanks so much haha I think I'm more irritated by it all because we never get actual explanations for things that happened around It that were mysterious but he had to describe such dumb things I didn't want to know about
Amber wrote: "I tried to read this one but like Carrie, the book got boring after Chapter 1 so had to give up on both. Stephen King has some good Diamonds in the rough of his novels but It and Carrie were misses..."I think Carrie was slow but I did enjoy that one but this one I couldn't get into at all but I could see why Carrie would be hard to enjoy
Kumar wrote: "Nice review"Thanks :)
For your second question, they said that the cycle usually just ended with a huge fatality. The two referenced were the ironworks explosion and the Black Spot burning. So them stopping It just stopped another mass murder like that from happening, I think. Plus (I'm not actually quite at the end yet so this hasn't really been explicitly said) they probably had hopes that It just wouldn't come back ever again. I don't think they knew about the 27 year cycle as children. They just knew that it had been there a long time.
Rachyl wrote: "For your second question, they said that the cycle usually just ended with a huge fatality. The two referenced were the ironworks explosion and the Black Spot burning. So them stopping It just stop..."That makes sense actually but it wasn't that clear in the book that they hadn't known about the cycle especially because they made the promise to come back, and I remember the massive death count stuff but it never really quiets down after though so it felt iffy to me to say it was a cycle idk maybe I just had a hard time suspending disbelief for this one
I agree with you completely in regards to all the loose ends. I finished the book this morning and I have so many questions. I feel, like you said, that King just threw a lot of content in very suddenly to add shock value. That being said, I mostly enjoyed the first 1,000 pages but the last 400 were a bit of a struggle!
Rebecca wrote: "I agree with you completely in regards to all the loose ends. I finished the book this morning and I have so many questions. I feel, like you said, that King just threw a lot of content in very sud..."Yeah like I wish there was more substance there in terms of what was happening rather than just scenes with violence for the sake of grossing me out or whatever idk Stephen King seems like a favorite of a lot of people but he's pretty much hit or miss with me
To your second question - it says the cycle is ~27 years and ends with a large-scale tragedy. Basically when it eats enough children/souls/whatever it goes back to sleep, then wakes up 27 years later to eat for another year or two. Wash, rinse, repeat. Their goal was to stop the cycle from repeating.
Drew wrote: "To your second question - it says the cycle is ~27 years and ends with a large-scale tragedy. Basically when it eats enough children/souls/whatever it goes back to sleep, then wakes up 27 years lat..."I know but that first time they didn't really even get rid of it idk it just seemed strange but I guess they didn't realize about the cycle then
I think what king was getting at with them not having any children, was that the spirit of the It never really left them. They were still left with a mark if you will. Hopefully that makes sense. I think the kids wanted to stop the It from ever coming back. Even though it would have slept for another 27 years, they wanted to stop the killing of children all together. I think for Bill he wanted revenge for the murder of his brother. As for the sex in the sewer, this is how I read it, and how it sounded to me. After the ritual of chud, everyone was mentally exhausted and they no longer had the bond that they had had prior to killing the It. Eddie, who always knows where to go and never gets lost, did not know where to go in order to get them home. Beverly thought that by having sex, she would prove she loved them all and bring back the lost bond. After everything is all said and done, Eddie is able to get everyone back safe and sound. That is pretty much the only reason I saw to have it in there. I'm not saying I agree with having it in there, just conveying how I read it.
Rachel wrote: "I think what king was getting at with them not having any children, was that the spirit of the It never really left them. They were still left with a mark if you will. Hopefully that makes sense. I..."I know but like there's nothing offered in the way of explanation, like their inability to have kids because of it and their lasting success in life what about their run in with it is causing it, it's just thrown in like some weird side effect but that's not enough for me. I did understand that that was their intention but again I just feel like its strange that a group of kids would do that especially for everyone but Bill rather than just leave it alone. Yeah I also get thats why he put it in their and again I guess just personally it felt pointless like it doesn't make any sense as to why the sex would help the situation, like what does their bond have to do with finding their way out and their mental exhaustion, I just wish more substantial explanations had been offered in the book is all.
This! This is exactly how I felt when I finished the book.
Kyla wrote: "This! This is exactly how I felt when I finished the book."I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it dude, but I'm also glad I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy it
Yeah, I ran when I saw the size of this monstrous book. I like King well enough but good lord, really? 1350 pages about a murderous clown? maybe the movie can answer your questions?
G.H. wrote: "Yeah, I ran when I saw the size of this monstrous book. I like King well enough but good lord, really? 1350 pages about a murderous clown? maybe the movie can answer your questions?"It really didn't answer my questions, I think it's one of those things where I'm just supposed to buy into things without questioning with this one.
I actually listened to this on Audible and I enjoyed listening to it. I wouldn't have read it because the size of the book. The whole sex thing with the kids threw me for a loop. I'm like huh??!!!
Jai wrote: "I actually listened to this on Audible and I enjoyed listening to it. I wouldn't have read it because the size of the book. The whole sex thing with the kids threw me for a loop. I'm like huh??!!!"I'm glad it was a better experience for you, but yeah the sex thing was kind of out of left field, made me feel like Stephen King was just trying to be edgy
I was like why they have to run a train on her after they dealt with this supernatural thing? 😂😂😂😂
Jai wrote: "I was like why they have to run a train on her after they dealt with this supernatural thing? 😂😂😂😂"who knows man, I'm sure someone probably asked him in an interview
Pouting wrote: "G.H. wrote: "Yeah, I ran when I saw the size of this monstrous book. I like King well enough but good lord, really? 1350 pages about a murderous clown? maybe the movie can answer your questions?"..."
Yeah, King's novels sometimes don't end in a way that's satisfying...not answering questions, leaving story threads open.
G.H. wrote: "Pouting wrote: "G.H. wrote: "Yeah, I ran when I saw the size of this monstrous book. I like King well enough but good lord, really? 1350 pages about a murderous clown? maybe the movie can answer yo..."One time I read one of his books and it ended on there being a world after death where we're all basically enslaved by giant insects and I was just like what the fuck King because there had been zero lead up to that
I have the same issue you do where it is very hard for me to not finish a book even if I am not enjoying it. I don’t know why I do that. But yikes what a long book to be stuck on!
Diana wrote: "I have the same issue you do where it is very hard for me to not finish a book even if I am not enjoying it. I don’t know why I do that. But yikes what a long book to be stuck on!"I personally feel like I might as well finish it if I spent time reading so much of it already and it gets worse the more I read also I always just want to give it a chance in case it improves as I keep reading on
I haven’t read a Stephen king book probably since the shining. That was pretty good as I remember, longtime ago. Not a fan of over the top supernatural. 1400 pages, I give you big time credit for sticking it out to the end. Enjoy the next one I hope.
Rich wrote: "I haven’t read a Stephen king book probably since the shining. That was pretty good as I remember, longtime ago. Not a fan of over the top supernatural. 1400 pages, I give you big time credit for s..."I haven't read the shinning but agreed on the over the top supernatural stuff, if it's horror I never really get into it for some reason
