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The annual reading has commenced. ♥︎

That preface. What.

I absolutely love when a writer makes you feel strong disdain for a character. McCammon has a way of making you feel it in your gut and it’s why he is one of my favorite authors. I often compare his ability to create characters to that of a Charles Dickens, and the dislike I feel for Billy’s father only reinforces this for me. His talent deserves far more recognition on the literary world.

I read a review from a fellow Goodreads user about how her only dislike of McCammon was that each of his books had some miserable animal death, and I have to say that I’ve noticed this pattern as well. Can anyone explain why this is? There really seems to be no purpose for it.

I feel a much stronger affinity for the natural chemistry between Matt and Ben than that of Ben and Susan. The spectacle of the love-interest seems haphazardly thrown into this book, almost as an afterthought for female readers.
It’s not that I have extreme disdain for Susan’s character so much as I just strongly dislike unnecessary, romantic subplots. And this one is especially poor.

Enjoying the book so far, however, Susan Norton is a dull, one-dimensional character at this point and I’m exhausted with her inquiries into the book Ben is writing. There is genuinely no point to this, other than to point out the nosey and insecure nature of a woman when a male’s attention is elsewhere. If that was the intended goal, King had more than made this point clear and I’m ready to move along.

One quarter of the way through and I still haven’t reached the main subject, however, this book is anything but a slow or dull read. McCammon has a way of developing a cast of rich characters with a talent of storytelling few authors have been able to capture. If there is a soul who believes Boy’s Life was fluke in his bibliography, they have been sorely mistaken.

A LOT of emphasis on “sand in everything” up to this point. As well as creating nouns with no context or index reference. However, words that do appear in the index are semi self-explanatory. Mediocre read so far, but not boring.

A little less than halfway through and honestly, we’re nowhere. The separate journeys are mostly intriguing but nothing has been revealed that has really grounded my interest in this book.
I suppose if you like post-apocalyptic literature, this is certainly a great read, but I was hoping for a little more fantasy to balance out the dark nature of the subject.

Ready for this book to start. I can appreciate the time it takes to build your cast, but I'm losing steam and chapter six is here with another new character.

The non-linear plot line and long-winded, irrelevant storytelling, is making it very difficult to maintain an interest. If the story were told chronologically, it would make for a much better read.
I’ve skipped entire pages and still maintained my footing. Not sure I will be able to finish, which is very sad because the story is not bad at all. I hope he found a new editor for his later works.

The non-linear plot line and long-winded, irrelevant storytelling, is making it very difficult to maintain an interest. If the story were told chronologically, it would make for a much better read.
I’ve skipped entire pages and still maintained my footing. Not sure I will be able to finish, which is very sad because the story is not bad at all. I hope he found a new editor for his later works.

This book is thus far dull. Was just slapped in the face with a “white guilt” moment, which couldn’t bother me more. I was already struggling to read this and now I’ve really lost interest.
It’s insincere and for some reason I have always had issues with white people writing about the black persons plight. It never seems to be done well. This book is no different.

I’m hoping it turns up quickly.