Review: Lisey’s Story by Stephen King

06/08/2013, CelineNyx, Review , 9

Disliked by many, liked by some, Lisey’s Story is one of the newer works of King that has baffled readers all over the world.

Two years after the death of her writer husband, Lisey thinks she is finally done grieving. But then it seems as if her husband left her clues, left her a treasure hunt, a bool. Lisey begins a frightening adventure into her own memories, the memories she has repressed for years.

Stephen King has a certain style that’s immediately obvious once you have read any of his books. He has a certain way of displaying people’s thoughts, of crawling into their heads. Most of his books however, are of an epic scope, following multiple characters over a span of time. Lisey’s Story is a much more personal story, it’s much closer and more detailed. We spend the entire book in Lisey’s head, inside her marriage and their language. On one hand, Lisey’s Story is very much King. On the other hand, it’s very different from many of his more popular works like It, Salem’s Lot or Insomnia.

Lisey’s Story is written in a fragmented, helter-skelter style that makes it hard to get into. Readability also isn’t helped by all the made-up and pretend words that fill Lisey’s head once she remembers more and more of Scott. Words like “smucking” and “bool” are used repeatedly throughout the book, which has annoyed several readers.

To be honest I’ve ran out of objective things to say about the book, because I thought it was beautiful. The writing swept me away into their world, even though it was a sometimes dysfunctional and often frightening world. Lisey’s Story is my favourite Stephen King book in all its ugliness, all its roughness, and I hope to reread it in a year or so.

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband Scott two years ago, after a twenty-five year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went — a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it’s Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, Lisey’s turn to go to Boo’ya Moon.

• Review: Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong (5/5 Stars)
• Review: Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Anna 2026 by Lucas Morgan (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Insomnia by Stephen King (4/5 Stars)

5 stars, book review, grief, horror, liseys story, literary, stephen king, widow

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