The Institute by Stephen King

I rarely read anything by Stephen King that I don’t enjoy, though a few, and I mean a damned few, didn’t blow me away. But I’m telling you right now, The Institute was not one of them. I loved this book!

I’m always honored to review a book by The King, regardless of how unqualified I feel doing so. I mean seriously, like Stephen King gives a crap what I think. But in case my reviews help you in choosing your next book, I’ll share my two cents. I’ve learned to trust that Stephen King will lead me somewhere good and The Institute is no exception.

I rate it 21 out of a possible 25. (see My Book Reviews for rating explanation)

The premise: A secret organization kidnaps gifted children and imprisons them in a secluded building called The Institute buried deep in the forest of Northern Maine. The Institute exploits children with psychic abilities to perform covert government operations. The story begins with the kidnapping of Luke, a gifted child who also happens to be a genius. Luke survives the horrific rigors of the institute and builds a strong bond with a core group of friends while held in captivity. But the tides turn when the children, led by Luke against their captors, begin to discover what they’re truly capable of.

I was excited about The Institute’s release. I pre-ordered it and waited patiently for its arrival. I followed the reviews, and like most reviews for Stephen King’s books, some people loved it while others didn’t. There weren’t many “I hated it” reviews, but I read a few of the “this one was just okay” reviews. I get it, but at the same time, I felt like The King clawed back to his roots in this one. The story revolved around kids with powers and it maintained a level of suspense throughout. It dragged in a few places, but kept me engaged.

Here are my ratings on The Institute.

Craft (5) – Okay, I’m a huge King fan, so I rarely criticize his craft. Seriously, his ability amazes me. As a struggling writer, I envy his little touches that drive home a point, or establish a visual, or blossoms a character to life. Trust me, a wannabe writer could do a lot worse than reading Stephen King to learn the craft.

Pace (4) – If you’re a Stephen King fan, especially in the last twenty-years, you know it’s rare to see a small book from him. Typically, they’re huge novels that you have to settle into. I like it, but at the same time, I did find myself, on occasion, wishing The Institute was just a little shorter. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Characters (4) – Almost everyone who loves the Stephen King universe agrees that The King’s greatest writing strength is character development. Not only are his stories amazing, his ideas extraordinary, and his writing superb; his characters explode into real, living beings! Often, so real we feel like they’re actual people we might have known! The Institute lives up to that reputation, with one exception; there were a few characters, though essential to the story, I simply didn’t care about, yet he spent a lot of time developing those characters – I felt these areas offered ample opportunity for brevity.

Story (3) – I read a review recently that Stephen King has run out of ideas and now he’s regurgitating his old ideas into new stories. After I thought about it, I suppose I could see where someone might say that. I mean, back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, everything he wrote was such a spectacular and unique idea that I think he spoiled us. Nowadays, if Stephen King writes a new book, you’ll see drifting images of books he’s written before; you’ll sense how one book is related to another book. Though I love his writing and The institute is a good story simply because The King wrote it; the concept of psychic children used for evil isn’t new (i.e. The Dark Tower series). When you pick up a new King book, you know the concept inside will likely be familiar. But it will still be good!

Ending (5) – The ending rocked! My main complaint about Stephen King is his endings – his endings often fall flat. I’ve said many times, he doesn’t “end” well. That’s not to say every book he’s written has a bad ending; some of them are phenomenal, but several of his endings were terrible, some even laughably terrible (i.e. Under the Dome). But rest easy, fellow reader, The Institute’s ending won’t let you down.

If you like a solid story, great characters, and something you can really sink your teeth into, then I think you’ll like The Institute.

My recommendation is to get this one!

Feel free to leave your thoughts. As always, I’d love to hear them. And I hope you enjoy The Institute!