Review: IT By Stephen King

Spoiler-free

Stephen King is an author that I've yet to fully connect with, which is frustrating given his obvious success and popularity. Granted, I have only read 3 of his books so far. 'Carrie' is one of my favourite films (the De Palma version of course), so naturally, I picked up the book and I did really enjoy it, although not to the full extent as I enjoyed the film. Keen for more, I picked up 'Salem's Lot'. I am a big vampire fan, so I had very high hopes that this would be the one for me. Unfortunately, I found Salem's Lot to be dry, uneventful and, ultimately, forgetful. So, will 'It' be the book that makes me a Stephen King fan? Let's find out.

The Premise

Stephen King's 'It' follows the story of a group of friends, called the Losers' Club, through 2 different timelines. One, when they are kids, and one, when they are adults, in the 80s. During both of these timelines, they are faced with the horrors of a shape-shifting clown monster - Pennywise/It - who is terrorising the small town of Derry, Maine. Banded together, they have no choice but to end It once and for all.

The Review

While Pennywise, the clown, does appear quite frequently in the book, there is much more of a focus on our main cast of characters. There's a lot of them, but they all have a 'quirk' or 'gimmick' that makes them instantly recognisable. As bad as it sounds, we have:

• Bill - the one with the stutter
• Eddie - the one with asthma
• Ben - the fat kid
• Richie - the 'funny' one
• Bev - the girl
• Mike - the black one
• Stan - the other one/plot device

This could be seen as quite lazy, but to be honest, it made the beginning of this book much more approachable, as I could instantly attach a character to their particular trait. The problem only came when that trait became their only trait. Some of the characters were definitely fleshed out much more than others.

Ben was a fantastic character, and easily the standout of this book. From his very first chapter, I could already see the depth of his emotions and complexity of his mind, which is impressive character work. The plot line for Ben, as a kid, gripped me the most, and similarly, the stories which Ben shared in his adult life captivated me the most.

Bill and Eddie both also had interesting character arcs, which I think were developed very well and took shape nicely by the end. They both proved to be much more than their given character quirks.

Unfortunately, Bev and Mike didn't receive this same level of treatment. Mike is a fairly serious and solemn character, who's story never really takes off, and his POV chapters were very dry. The focus of his character was definitely on his race, as much as the focus on Bev's character was on her gender and, therefore, inevitable romantic connections with the boys of the group. Other than this, the only other notable storyline for Bev was her being constantly abused by horrible men. It was hard to read about, to be honest, and I just wish her character was fleshed out over time in a way that meant she wasn't just being used for the entire novel. I did enjoy Bev as a character, but I do feel disappointed that there wasn't more delevelopment, given the sheer size of the book.

Right, Richie Richie Richie... the 'funny' one, who was so unfunny it was painful. He often, and I mean often, does these stupid voices and impressions to cut the tension. All the gang find him hilarious (if not annoying at times) and I'm just here, rolling my eyes, like "here we go again..." I will say that a lot of his jokes did just go over my head as I didn't understand the references being made, but still, he was annoying.

Stan is such a nothing character. He's honestly not even worth talking about. No shade, I think the story would've worked fine without it him.

It was interesting to watch how these characters all grow up. I enjoyed reading both timelines equally. The way that Stephen King merged them together was very impressive. If the time jumps are something you are apprehensive about, you have nothing to fear. It's done in a masterful way. Even the shifts in different perspectives are seemless. We often spend a long amount of time with a certain character before the next POV shift, which really helps you settle into their particular thoughts and personal issues.

The structure of 'It' is incredibly clear and precise. Given the number of characters and two timelines, I was expecting to be confused at certain points. However, everything is laid out in such an intentional way that the story moves along at a leisurely pace, without any hiccups. I particularly enjoyed the chapter in Part 1 - Six Phone Calls, which introduces us to the main cast of characters, by all of them receiving the same phone call. The narrative structure of this chapter was such a perfect way to introduce the cast and really kicked things off to a good start.

I now understand Stephen King's praise for writing suspense. There are numerous scenes where my butt was firmly clenched. And that's even without Pennywise there. The most suspenseful scenes were often due to the bullies in the kids' timeline. This cast of characters really can't seem to catch a break, let me tell you.

I really enjoyed how nonsensical and surreal Pennywise was as a villain. To understand this monster feels beyond the limitations of the human mind. This made any appearance unpredictable, bizzare, and just horrific fun.

Controversies

I can't talk about Stephen King without addressing some of the controversies surrounding him, and in particular, 'It'.

There are multiple questionable descriptions of kids' genitalia that just make me feel queezy. There is also one scene in particular towards the end, which is quite graphic and doesn't seem all that necessary. This has definitely raised a question mark over his head for me. I don't know if these scenes were added for shock factor, to really gross out the reader, to test people's limits or for personal enjoyment... Whatever it may be, it's very sus.

There are also multiple uses of the N word, F word, and just about any word you can think of. A large portion of the beginning focuses on homophobia, which really surprised me. It's handled in a very surface level way, where it's very apparent that this is a straight man writing about homophobia, but I appreciated it nevertheless. There are also many discussions on racism and antisemitism. As the book was written in the 80s, I think these topics are handled very differently than they would be today, but I found it interesting to see how these ideas were presented at the time of release.

I touched on this earlier (when talking about Bev's character) but the amount of abuse in this book is quite alarming. Reading Bev's perspective is often heartbreaking, and it repeats itself over and over again. The same goes for the bullying the boys suffer. In particular Ben, who is constantly beaten up severely, over and over again. I understand that, by nature, bullying is repetitive, but it was a lot. There's a reason this book is so long.

The book is long, but it was so much fun reading, and I loved how closely we got to know (most of) the characters over time. But then...

Everything changed when the ending attacked

The ending SUCKED! It was awful. The whole book was a massive build-up of intense suspense and mystery just to be tied off in the most unsatisfying way imaginable. I was more than ready to give this book a glowing review before the ending attacked. Unfortunately, the last 100 pages or so really left a sour taste in my mouth and have greatly affected my overall rating of the book. Maybe that's unfair, but it's also unfair to have me read this 1000+ page book (44 hours of reading time, according to my Kobo stats) just to be betrayed by a lacklustre and lazy finale.

So, the question remains: Am I now a Stephen King fan?

No. Not quite, but I'm getting there. I was 100% ready to write this review and say "Yes, I get it. I understand the Stephen King praise now." However, after the 80% mark the quality slipped so drastically that it really dampened my entire reading experience. Although, I will say that, reading 'It' definitely opened my eyes up a lot more to Stephen King's character work, especially in regards to Ben. Also, I have much more of an appreciation for his writing of suspense and horror. Given the sheer length of the spoiler chat below, I clearly have a lot to say about this one, so thats got to count for something! Maybe it's finally time to pick up The Shining...

🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑 - 3.25 stars

Read below for spoiler chat! Includes my full spoiler reactions, updated after finishing each particular chapter/section of the book.

Spoiler Chat - Reading Blog

PART 1 - The Shadow Before

Lots of homophobia, which was weird. It was written in a very - this is a straight man writing about homophobia - kinda way. Interesting, but very surface level. I think I read the F word about 50 times so far.

• Chapter 3 - Six Phone Calls

This is a really cool way of introducing a large cast. It's like reading mini stories for each, which is cool. The one introducing Ben was amazing. The way he was squeezing the lemons into his eyes and drinking the stein of whiskey was scarier than Pennywise so far lmao.

So everyone's partner is a nightmare to deal with? That's my understanding so far. You've got Bev's partner who is abusive, and you've got Eddie's partner, who's an emotional mess.

PART 2 - June of 1958

• Chapter 4 - Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall

I'm glad this kicks off with Ben as a kid because he is probably my favourite out of the bunch so far. I loved following him around going to the library, etc, and was so engrossed in his head that even I forgot about them scumbag bully kids waiting outside for him.... Bruh, that scene was intense. Normally, action scenes like that aren't my thing, but I was really rooting for my boy Ben in that moment. Crazy how graphic the scrap ended up being, too...

• Chapter 5 - Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil - 1

Loved how Ben ended up sitting with Eddie so that Bill could get the medicine, and thats how they bonded and initially became friends. It was actually quite touching seeing Ben make his first friends ngl.

Also, Bill goes home and looks inside the photo album that I guess George had, and crazy shit starts happening. It is speaking to him, and there's blood coming out. The pages are flickering.... Wild! I'm glad supernatural stuff is already starting to take place.

• Chapter 7 - The Dam in the Barrens

So Richie and Stan have joined Ben, Bill, and Eddie in the barrens, so the gang is all together (well, guess not Bev yet). It's good vibes, and they all seem quite jovial, but Richie just has to ruin it. He sucks. I feel like he's just a classic bully type personality. I know he's young and just a kid, but I don't care... I think he's purposefully making Ben feel uncomfortable whilst pissing everyone else off, just to show off to Ben... urgh gross.

That scene with Eddie running away from the homeless man with syphilis, who was trying to give Eddie a blowjob... that was wild and terrifying! Doubly terrifying as Eddie is just a kid! Wtf!

Okay, so Bill has just announced his supernatural encounter (george's photo album flickering open, etc) to the group. Now there's the realisation that everyone (except maybe Richie?) has experienced a similar thing. I'm really happy that this is getting out in the open relatively early on, and there isn't the whole "you're crazy and a liar" thing happening, and everyone believes each other. Well, I say everyone, but I'm not sure if Richie does, but he's kinda outnumbered.

• Chapter 8 - George's room and the house on Neibolt Street

So Bill showed Richie the photobook, and I was scared nothing was going to happen, and Richie would think that Bill was lying. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. It was weird how Bill was trying to get inside the picture. That was crazy. It seems like the supernatural elements in this have no rules or boundaries, which I'm quite enjoying because it really opens the doors for anything to happen.

After already phoning the rest of the crew to see if they'd go to the movies, Richie decides to phone Ben. This was actually really cute, and I'm glad that he's warming up to Ben. At least enough to see him one on one. Before arriving at the movies, he bumps into Bev and invites her along. I initially felt so sorry for Ben, who undoubtedly would be jealous seeing them two together, and honestly, I was dreading Richie excluding Ben, and just wanting to spend time with Bev instead... However, this didn't actually happen. It's fairly obvious that they both like Bev but they still bonded up as a three, fought Henry fuckface together and got away with it. I think I judged Richie too soon. He's starting to grow in me now. I guess Bev is part of the mötley crew now too, so that's fun!

Right so, Bill persuades Richie to come with him to the house on Neibolt Street, where Eddie was comforted by that homeless man. They planned on shooting It with a pistol, which is crazy talk, but they're kids, so it's what to expect, I guess. What appears out of the blue? A werewolf! I wasn't expecting a werewolf chase scene, and it was intense! I was having to force myself to read at a slower pace to take it all in because my eyes were darting to the next word! Love it! Now the fact that they just saw the werewolf film at the cinema and now It has taken the form of a werewolf must mean something. I'm currently thinking that It is the manifestation of the children's fears. Since werewolves are obviously on their minds, that's why It took the form of the werewolf. Obviously, a lot of children are scared of clowns, so having the clown as It's OG form makes sense. That's my current theory anyway, but honestly, I'm enjoying how It, as a figure, is nonsensical. It adds to the surrealism and the sense of unpredictable impending dread...

• Derry: The Second Interlude

This dragged. It took me way longer than it should have to get through. It's disappointing because normally I find that the interlude chapters in big books are a nice milestone to look forward to, but so far, they've been dry and uninteresting. Oh well, on with the main story!

PART 3: Grownups

• Chapter 10 - The Reunion

Part 3 kicks off with Bill (now arrived in Derry) receiving a call from Mike saying that they will all reunite at 'the Jade of the Orient' in town. He takes a taxi and has a pleasant chat with the driver, Dave (who definitely isn't a religious man). This taxi ride was so much fun and reminded me of times I have also been in a taxi, where it's been instant good vibes. It's just a nice boost to your day.

Ben just told the group his weight loss story. It's kinda corny, but I don't care, I loved it. He went on a real revenge arc with his coach. It was interesting hearing about how upset his mother was when Ben told her that he wished to lose weight. I'm not a parent, but it seems to me like it would be a commendable thing and something to easily accept, but the way it affected Ben's mother seemed less so. I guess it may show her insecurities of motherhood, perhaps inducing feelings of guilt and failure. Turns out, they found a nice ballance by Ben raving about how good her salads were, so she was happy to make him salads every day, as he ate a lot of it. He finally got his payback with the coach, too, by winning the track race and basically sticking his middle finger up at that jerk.

I think this has been my favourite chapter so far. Witnessing the awkwardness slowly shift into familiarity was quite beautiful to see. I'm glad they were able to chat and catch up before getting down to business. They all mutually agreed to stay and help to kill It, which I was expecting and glad about. Before taking their leave, they open their fortune cookies, and It begins... Inside each cookie is something that's recently been on their mind a lot. This is exactly what I thought back when the werewolf was chasing Richie and Bill, so it's nice to get some confirmation on that and to learn more about how It functions.

Richie has gone back to annoying me again. I get that he's supposed to be the comic relief, but his humour just isn't landing. All the voices he's doing are starting to grain on me. To be fair to him, I dont understand 80% of the references he's making, so there is that.

• Chapter 11 - Walking Tours

Following Mike's suggestion, the gang all splits up and is told to just walk around, follow their intuition and see what happens. They will all meet up at the library at 7 pm.

First, we follow Ben, which I was more than happy about. He kept saying to himself how he didn't know where he was going to go and how he could possibly know? Man... Of course you're going to go to the library, what are you talking about? So he does. This scene was amazing! We get Pennywise as a vampire! I love that he wasn't a Hollywood style vampire but opted for more of a monstrous nosferatu kinda vibe. Ben was sweating like crazy and spirraling out of control. The horror of it all was great. I loved how he was so conscious of looking like a serial killer the whole time because yeah... he does...

Now it's Eddie's turn. A large amount of his 'walking tour' was baseball talk. I'm British and don't like sports all that much, so this bored the hell out of me. It was fine, though. I just sorta let it wash over me. When Pennywise started to terrorise him, I was sucked back in, and then before I knew it, Eddie had fainted...

Bev's turn! After some mindless wandering, Bev finds herself at her old apartment where her douchebag father lives. Only, it wasn't her father who answered the door but an old woman, who invites her in for tea. It wasn't long for the woman to shift forms into a witch like figure, and then her father. This was pretty grousome. The tea turned into shit and her father was absolutely vile, saying he only hit her because he wanted to fuck her like... wtf... Bev is so harddone by in the book, it's a lot. She can't seem to catch a break. It really frustrates me when she talks about how good her husband is and how he's made her who she is. Then again, this abusive treatment is all she has known, so how could she know any better?

Urgh... Time for Richie in the spotlight. I've already forgotten what he was wittering on about for the first half of his section, but he ends up at the Paul Bunyan statue. Not gonna lie, I had to look up who Paul Bunyan was, but I think I recognise him to be fair. It was cool seeing him come to life. Nothing too crazy happens in comparison to Bev's run-in with It, but it was still enjoyable.

Bill, you're up. Okay, so why is Bill approaching random kids he's walking past... That's a little sus. If I were on these missing person cases, I know exactly where to look. That's if Ben isn't an even bigger suspect, sweating his tits off in the library.​ Anyway, Bill is reunited with Silver, which is cute. Other than being sentimental, I am not sure about the significance of the bike yet, but I guess time will tell.

• Chapter 12 - Three Uninvited Guests

So Henry is locked up. Finally, some good news. It's interesting how he took the fall for ALL of the murders, but it turns out he did kill some of them, so what's a few more to add? I wonder if It made him confess or if it was his own personal decision.

Tom needs to stop. He's so gross. Leave poor Kay alone. Guess I need to buckle up because he's on his way to Derry now. I wonder how it's all going to go down. I have a feeling it's going to be Ben that sorts him out.

Tom's not the only one on his way to Derry as Bill's wife Audra is also on the move. In fact, where the chapter ends, they are in hotels right next door to each other without knowing it. Love when that happens.

Oh, and also Henry is now broken out and is on his way. Question mark?

PART 4: July of 1958

• Chapter 13 - The Apocalyptic Rockfight

Right, so we're back to being kids again. There's been discussions that It is something called a 'glamour', which appears differently to each individual. This is basically what I was theorising about earlier so it's nice to get some confirmation on that.

Mike's adition to the group feels very natural. I guess that's because we knew it was happening, but also Henry sucks, and that's something that we can all agree on. Hate bonding can go a long way.

• Chapter 15 - The Smoke-hole

So Mike and Richie go down into the clubhouse where it's like a dingy metal gig in a dive bar with the amount of smoke there is. They saw this almost spiritual monument type thing fall from the sky. I'm guessing this links to the origin of Pennywise, or maybe it's Its home. I guess I'll wait and see, I think I remember them saying that the final showdown would be in the sewers, though.

• Chapter 16 - Eddie's Bad Break

So Mr Keene has just called Eddie into his office to explain to him that his aspirator is a placebo. This is a wild thing to say to a child. Especially as he is saying that it's his own mother, who's the one making him sick. While I don't think Eddie's mum is doing him any favours, this is still inappropriate to say to a child and will only make things worse. I'm not a scientist, but I'd wager that Eddie does have asthma, and if his inhaler is a placebo, so what? As long as it does the trick, I don't see an issue with it. It was an interesting chat they had, but was also a fucked up thing for the teacher to do. I wonder what will happen with this asthma storyline because I imagine Eddie is going to get in his head about it and maybe bin his inhaler, which could lead to a near fatal asthma attack coming up. Yikes.

Right, so Eddie ends up in hospital after being beat up by the nobhead bullies. This bullying is getting quite repetitive now, but I guess, by nature, that bullying is, so ... Whatever. Anyway, we got Eddie's Mum's POV, which was so infuriating to read. She's so manipulative! I understand her motives and intentions, but she needs to understand how her insistent mithering is doing Eddie no favours. I'm glad Eddie stood up for himself, and hopefully, this will change their relationship moving forward for the better. Also, it turns out the inhaler is a placebo, so I guess I was wrong on that one. Although, I swear Eddie was still using the inhaler in the adult timeline? Maybe I'm wrong, though. I'll have to keep an eye out. It could just be a comfort thing.

• Chapter 17 - Another One of the Missing: The death of Patrick Hockstetter

So Patrick is all sorts of fucked up, huh... him and Henry have this weird jerk off session which is weird, as they're like 12 or whatever. There's been some questionable descriptions of kids' body parts leading up to this, which I have just shrugged off and forgot about, but this scene was so explicit that I had no choice but to face it. Gross. I get that this kinda stuff happens with kids, but also to write about it in this explicit kinda way is a little sus...

Anyway, it turns out Patrick killed his baby bro because he was jealous and has been freezing different animals in the junkyard. Pretty standard serial killer stuff, so it's a good job them leaches sucked the life outta him. Otherwise, they'd be yet another person to take the heat off of old Pennywise. It's already got Henry stealing the spotlight, apparently.

• Interlude

Another slog fest.

PART 5 : The ritual of Chud

• Chapter 19 - In the Watches of the Night

So, Bev is being chased and beaten up by her dad. YET AGAIN. The fact that he wants to strip her down to see if she's still 'intact' is disgusting. BUT she comes to the conclusion that It has taken over her dad's mind and body in some way. She says it in a way that she thinks her Dad has let It in. This is interesting, as I wonder what other aspects of the kids' lives are affected by It, without them even realising. Honestly, though, I don't think this is even true. I think this is the only way that Bev can rationalise her Dad being this evil.

Okay, so the rest of this chapter is all over the place. We get constant time jumps from past to present, which was as exciting as it was confusing.

I'm not sure what the point of Stan's character is, other than to initially show the severity of the situation with his death. In the flashback chapters he's just sorta... there.

Bev and Bill finally fuck. But the weird thing is that they were getting these flashbacks of when they were kids and Bev 'letting everyone in...' I'm got gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous finding out what that's all about...

Henry is some fucked up undead looking crazy fool going full ham on everyone. He gets into Eddie's hotel room, but Eddie manages to kill him (?). Wasn't really expecting Eddie to get the killing blow. I always thought it would be Ben, protecting Bev or whatever. I mean, he may not even be dead yet, Eddie just said that he looks dead and has phoned Bill.

Kid flashback - we've gone down into the sewers for the final showdown. I think Henry and the bully gang are just gonna leave them to it now. Doesn't seem worth it, to chase them down sewers to be fair.

• Chapter 20 - The Circle Closes

So it seems like Henry really is dead. Having Eddie be the one to kill Henry is such a weird choice to me. I know Henry was relentless in bullying all of them as kids, but it definitely seemed to me like Mike and Ben got the brunt of it. I just think that if Ben/Mike got the final blow on Henry, his death would've been much more satisfying than it turned out to be.

Anyway, Audra had a run-in with Tom, and it seems like she's down in the drains, so the gang is going down to get her. I feel like It has taken over a part of Tom, and that's why Tom has persumingly taking Audra down there because he doesn't really have any other reason to, if he was fully himself.

Now that both timelines are down in the drains, there's for sure gonna be a lot of flip-flopping between timelines for this climax. I'm quite excited to see how it plays out. It feels like a good way to combine the story into a satisfying ending. Maybe I'm speaking too soon.

• Chapter 21 - Under The City

We get a little snippet from Its perspective! Its thought pattens and processing were as nonsensical and surreal as It appears to the children. It's still really cool, though! Interesting how It shows an element of fear towards the gang and is really having to figure out a gameplan to survive against them. Makes me realise that It's not all so powerful as It seems...

Okay, so Henry is chasing them still. Man, this guy just doesn't quit. He needs a hobby.

It seems the gang has bigger fish to fry, though, as they're not chased by this giant Eye. This was pretty awesome, I can't lie. I imagined it as the Eye of Cthulhu (specifically the one in Terraria). The descriptions of the gang punching and kicking the Eye, with their limbs squelching in, was gross. Cool. I like it.

Right, so Mike is AFK/put to sleep after just being injected by a syringe of god knows what by Mark(?). Whatever, Mike is kinda a nothing character to me anyway to be honest. His character arc hasn't seemed to have gone anywhere.

The rest of the gang face It and come to the realisilation that It is pregnant, which I'm baffled about but whatever. They have to go and do this 'ritual of Chüd' again, which I'm worried is going to be some ritual sex magic stuff...

• Chapter 22 - The Ritual of Chüd

It's some ritual sex magic stuff... WTF did I just read? Gross. That was not necessary at all. I don't even know what the purpose of that was. Just to show how they have grown up and are adults now? I honestly have no idea. It was fucked up. I also hate how Bev just offered herself up like that. I also think that, even at 11 years old or whatever, there is no way Ben would have agreed to do that. There's no way... Not like that! That was completely out of character. Stephen King has a bit of a question mark on his head now. The kid stuff is very suss...

In other news, Its original form seems to be some giant spider thing and adult Eddie gets his arm ripped off by said giant spider thing! Guess he's dead now, and to be honest, there were bound to be some deaths. His death didn't seem to have much effect on me, more of a huh okay... Although its kinda gnarly how his whole arm gets torn off.

Ben found a bunch of spider eggs and stepped on them all. I don't believe that was all of the eggs. There's bound to be one that survives and carried this nightmare on.

This whole chapter delved into a cosmic mess, which ended in an underage orgy... I don't really know what else there is to say.

• Chapter 23 - Out

This ending sucked. I feel betrayed! If you have made it this far in my reading blog, you'll understand how disappointed I am. I was really enjoying most of everything that was happening up until this messy ending. It's not satisfying in the least. So Derry just comes crumbling down? Please... Urgh, whatever. I do like how they're already starting to forget everything. It probably is a good thing, but it must also be frustrating, feeling the bonds and relationships with each other slowly slip away. Although I wish I could forget this ending...

• Epilogue - Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil - II

So Bill rides his bike out of Derry with a boner. The end.

Final thoughts

This ending has left a real sour taste in my mouth. Everything was on track for being such an amazing book, and I feel betrayed by this lacklustre and lazy excuse of a finale. Urgh! Whatever. It's fine. I'm fine.