Desperation by Stephen King
Desperation follows multiple groups of people who try and cross the town of Desperation. All with different reasons of entering Desperation but all get stopped by the police. From there, they all meet together at the police station and things get crazier from there.
I am obsessed with this novel.
I've heard a lot of mixed reviews when it came to this novel - mostly negative so diving into this, I was incredibly skeptical.
One of the most common things I hear when it comes to Desperation is, "This book is incredibly confusing."
And to that, I agree but also disagree.
In my opinion, Desperation has some form of acquired taste. Somethings are meant to confuse your mind but others, I feel like the other part that causes confusion might just be aspects that are misunderstood. There is a lot of characters, a lot of perspectives you follow around and I think that is one of the things that will get the readers confused.
Desperation is a book you really need time and concentration to read and process the plot and characteristics.
I think the reason why I loved this book was how well-written and relatable these characters are.
King is known to run off on certain situations of his novels and I admit it all the time. But Desperation, although it's a very large book, yet I feel like every page contributes to the plot. Every page gives you an insight on the characters and I quite love that about this book.
In all honesty, this book does have the typical outline of King literature - that typically work and I think that may be a major reason as to why I love it. But I love the idea he had with multiple points of view and some form or eerie supernatural aspect.
Right when you dive into this book, you meet a very sweet and kind couple and at one point you really think this book won't be too bad. But it's a King book and the creepy aspects and events happen shortly after.
King covers so many attributes of fear in this novel. Not just an eerie supernatural monster, but other fears as well. Like losing a loved one, being possessed, being alone, in the dark, decaying etc.
One of my favourite things about King's horror books is that it's not just a horror for a creepy monster. Theres other layers to the plot as well that seem to go unnoticed sometimes because the creepy monster takes over.
It's fictional, yet relatable. Each character goes through situations that could potentially happen to the reader - to a certain extent. And that is why it is creepy.
Because there are so many characters in this book, it may be hard to keep up with it. But honestly, each individual group that tries to pass this town all has distinctive attributes that allows you to keep track on which group is whom.
My favourite characters from Desperation are Mary and Peter Jackson, alongside the little boy in this novel, David Carver.
Generally, all the characters in this novel are so well-written and full of potential. But these three seem to be the most interesting and seem to stick to me a lot more than the rest.
Something I absolutely loved as well was the supernatural monster. I absolutely loved Tak. It reminded me a lot of Pennywise in which he takes forms in other people's bodies.
It's mysterious yet utterly creepy.
The more you get to know per se Tak, the creepier it gets. There is so many attributes that can be so haunting, it's amusing.
There is a companion novel called The Regulators which King wrote as his pseudonym Richard Bachman which I believe is similar content but different characters and situations.
I've heard you can read either one first as it isn't a duology.
I am incredibly excited to dive into it soon.
If you read these twin novels, I'd love to hear what you think! Let me know down in the comments section or on my Instagram post!
