Definitely a book worth checking for trigger warnings before reading but otherwise going in blind. This is by far my favorite read of the year so far, and it has easily earned a spot on my list of all time favorites.

It sure was a book that had enough words to fill multiple pages, and there were certainly characters and chapters. Was there a plot? Debatable.

I've seen people wax poetic about this book, but I suspect it's a direct reflection of survivorship bias resulting in only the people who don't choose to give up on this book leaving ratings and reviews. But I'm a stubborn jackass and kept reading, despite wondering when the plot would ever meaningfully develop, what King's fixation on minors' libidos was about during this period of his writing, and if he would see the themes of toxic masculinity he (perhaps accidentally) wrote into the middle of the book and actually do anything interesting with them. But not only am I a stubborn jackass; I'm now a disappointed, stubborn jackass for having finished this book. I love a lot of King's works, but this was the most disappointing read of the year so far for me.