Rating: 9

I remember all the hype for this book when it dropped in hardcover last year: if I remember correctly, most, if not all, of it was through the roof. King even got interviewed by The Paris Review… a sure sign this “once-favorite target of critics, has been embraced by at least some in the literary elite.”

Having just finished this book, I must say that it’s about time.

Sure, there’s signature King here in this book. He can’t get too far away from what butters his bread, namely a bizarre other-world where Lisey’s husband—bestselling novelist, Scott Landon—goes while in the dark realm of his mental illness. Scott’s able to take Lisey there and eventually teaches her how to get there on her own. It’s a skill that comes in handy after Scott’s death, as it helps save the lives of people who are close to her.

This other-world, that Scott uses as both an escape from the “bad-gunky” and as novel fodder, is rich with King-isms: scary monsters, wandering souls, and magical water.

Not exactly the stuff of typical literary fiction.

But what makes this book work so well is that it is, at it’s heart, a love story, chronicled between present day, and flashbacks to Lisey’s and Scott’s courtship and married life. There’s also the love story shared between Lisey and her older sisters, one of whom shares a troubling bond with Scott.

As King has said about this book, there are two hearts in a marriage, one light, one dark. What’s also revealed—so clearly in the “sister thing”—is that the light and dark hearts are a part of all close and important relationships.

If you can’t tell already, I loved this book.