Book Review: IT by Stephen King
I started reading IT back in October, when I saw all cinematic versions (1990, 2017, 2019). Then I decided to tackle the book, and oh boy, was it a book. There’s so much I want to cover but I’m going to condense it as much as possible, into what I loved and what I didn’t like as much. If you want to skip all that, my overall thoughts are at the bottom of this page! ♡
Trigger Warning: racism, homophobia, violence, blood/gore
Smells of dirt and wet and long-gone vegetables would merge into one unmistakable ineluctable smell, the smell of the monster, the apotheosis of all monsters. It was the smell of something for which he had no name: the smell of It, crouched and lurking and ready to spring. A creature which would eat anything but which was especially hungry for boymeat.
— i.
None of those things have to be said, perhaps, and the reason why they don’t has already been stated: they still love one another. Things have changed over the last twenty-seven years, but that, miraculously, hasn’t. It is, Mike thinks, our only real hope.
Well I feel like the IT franchise blew up so much in the last couple of years, to the point where a brief recap without spoilers is kind of unnecessary. I will say though, I think it’s cool that Stephen King wanted to write this book because he thought children’s biggest fear was clowns.
Anyway, let’s talk about the characters and dynamics. My favourite character was Eddie. I mean, I loved pretty much all of the main seven, but he holds a special place in my heart. They’ve all been through so much, but I feel like by the end of the novel, his character really rounds out and comes full circle in development. I want to give him warm Olaf hugs. I love him so much.
But honestly, I loved all of the seven, except maybe not Bill as much. I loved Bill in recent movie adaptations, but he fell so flat for me in the book. He was such a dud as a kid, and certain things he did as an adult just made me really not like him at all. So he went from a dud to completely unlikeable. I do hold respect for him though, because the other losers would die for him, and considering that I’d die for the other losers, I respect the fact that he’s the leader (that makes the most sense honestly), they look up to him, and he’s everything to them. But for my own personal sanity, I’m going to pretend that the only canon Bill is movie!Bill, because I loved him so much, I would die for that Bill. So while his characterization in the book did bother me, I still have the movies.
I loved the other characters a lot though, and they definitely make up for book!Bill. I find them well developed, and each of them come with a special complexity that makes them unique. They kind of compliment each other, in the best way possible, which brings me to dynamics.
— ii.
Seven, Richie thought. That’s the magic number. There has to be seven of us. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
The big dynamic between all seven of them is most important, the one I cherish the most, and truly the most special. When they become seven for the very first time, you literally feel the pieces fall into place, like there’s some sort of magic between them. This particular dynamic made the whole book, which is why I was disappointed that by the final battle as adults, they were down to 5, then 4. Like, I get it, but at the same time by that point, the magic was a little lost for me, because they were just so damn powerful, at their absolute best when they were all seven (and let me tell you, that gross scene towards the end of the novel DOES NOT COUNT, THERE IS NO MAGIC THERE, IT’S JUST GROSS AND MISOGYNISTIC AND GROSS).
As for smaller dynamics (like pairings), I loved Eddie & Richie (obviously), and that last scene between them before you know, absolutely broke me. It’s going to haunt me and my dreams for the rest of my life and probably through the afterlife, so thanks Stephen King, for that.
I probably did prefer the Ben/Beverly dynamic in the movie, but they were still sweet in the novel. I loved the Eddie/Bill friendship, and Bill/Richie too. And Mike/Bill were like, lowkey in love with each other as adults, so that was nice.
The only dynamic between the seven that lowkey freaked me out, was Bill/Beverly. Their feelings didn’t bother me or anything like that, until Beverly literally made a comparison between her crush for Bill and her abusive father. That’s when alarm bells went off in my head, and for the rest of the novel, their dynamic made me super uncomfortable.
I think dynamics outside the big seven are pretty self explanatory. Beverly & Eddie both come from abusive households, they both marry people that mirror their parents, pretty much. Bill’s parents can go fuck themselves, to be honest. I like the dynamic between Mike and his family, it was really sweet. We didn’t get enough of Stan and his family for me to have a proper opinion, and same with Ben. It was nice that Richie comes from a normal household though, didn’t have skeletons in the closet or anything, and still chose to be a part of the big seven and fight It. Like, sometimes, you don’t need a bunch of backstory and trauma to be a part of something. You just do it because you love your friends and would do anything for them, and that’s one of the many reasons I love Richie Tozier so much.
— iii.
Well, that hadn’t turned out to be true. The energy you drew on so extravagantly when you were a kid, the energy you thought would never exhaust itself—that slipped away somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four, to be replaced by something much duller, something as bogus as a coke high: purpose, maybe, or goals, or whatever rah-rah Junior Chamber of Commerce word you wanted to use. It was no big deal; it didn’t go all at once, with a bang. And maybe, Richie thought, that’s the scary part. How you don’t stop being a kid all at once, with a big explosive bang, like one of that clown’s trick balloons with the Burma-Shave slogans on the sides. The kid in you just leaked out, like the air out of a tire. And one day you looked in the mirror and there was a grownup looking back at you. You could go on wearing bluejeans, you could keep going to Springsteen and Seger concerts, you could dye your hair, but that was a grownup’s face in the mirror just the same. It all happened while you were asleep, maybe, like a visit from the Tooth Fairy.
Now, let’s discuss general stuff about the book. I had never read a Stephen King novel before, so I was completely taken aback by the fact that this was 1200 pages long. Before this, the longest novel I think I read was like, 968 pages. And there was so much to cover in IT, it felt like the book could be split into a series. That’s part of the reason why it took me so long to finish, because even though it worked as a standalone, at times it still felt like I was reading a trilogy or something.
But it didn’t drag on, so it wasn’t like the 1200 pages were for nothing. At times I found the interludes boring, and towards the end, when the scenes were alternating between both final battles, and then just Derry flooding, I felt like the Derry flooding was just… boring, because I wanted to get back to the battle.
— iv.
If the wheels of the universe are in true, then good always compensates for evil—but good can be awful as well.
For the most part, the plot and the way the story progressed was really good. The reason why I can’t rate this book a full five stars is because of plot points I genuinely disliked. There’s obviously /that/ scene, towards the end of the novel, the one I referenced to earlier that was really gross and disgusting, and for my personal sanity, I have to pretend it doesn’t exist. Because it’s so fucked on so many levels I don’t know where to begin (if you want to know what I’m talking about, you can literally google “the most fucked scene in IT book,” and it will come up).
But there were other things I genuinely was disappointed with, too, mainly, the ending. I really hated how after all that, they still were going to forget. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe it’s because I saw the movie adaptations first, but in my mind, it just makes more sense that they don’t forget once It is gone forever. Because what magic is left once It is destroyed? The magic holding Derry together? None of it makes sense.
There’s also the fact that after everything they’ve been through all over again, they’re just going to forget each other. I understand why the first time, but why now? You’re telling me after all that, Richie and Mike are going to spend the rest of their lives alone, with no friends? If Ben goes to the grocery store one day, or on a business trip, does he just forget Beverly, the love of his life, who he ended up with? It didn’t really feel like the ending of a story for me. And yes, I can hear movie!Bill saying that there’s not always a happy ending, but even on a logistic level, what magic is making them forget if It is dead? NOTHING MAKES SENSE. Like great, good for book!Bill, he gets to be happy with his wife even though he treated her like shit until she fell catatonic. Fuck everyone else.
If they still forgot at the end, but logically, it made sense, I would still be hurt for Richie and Mike, but at least I would understand, especially if it felt like it was the best way to close the novel.
— v.
My heart’s with you, Bill, no matter how it turns out. My heart is with all of them, and I think that, even if we forget each other, we’ll remember in our dreams.
I’m almost done with this diary now—and I suppose a diary is all that it will ever be, and that the story of Derry’s old scandals and eccentricities has no place outside these pages. That’s fine with me; I think that, when they let me out of here tomorrow, it might finally be time to start thinking about some sort of new life . . . although just what that might be is unclear to me.
I loved you guys, you know.
I loved you so much.
Before I wrap up, I just wanted to briefly touch upon Stephen King’s writing. He’s obviously a good writer, and I don’t know how he’s changed over the years considering IT was written in the first half of the 1980s. I imagine he’s changed, because while he is a good writer, there are some things where it’s just like, dear lord, I hope he doesn’t write stuff like this anymore. I’m mainly referring to the way he describes women and children. Like, I guarantee, no child (the big seven are eleven years old when they’re fighting It) is thinking in great detail how women’s breasts feel or change. Sure, eleven year olds think about it, but the way King describes it, it’s like all seven of these kids know what breasts look and feel like in super great detail, once they’re fully developed. Like, that’s so uncomfortable. What the actual fuck. But I wouldn’t only attribute this to Stephen King, all male writers tend to sexualize girls and write children (especially girls) like they know everything about the female body. Like please, it’s so cringey. But other than that, King is a good writer. I just hope he doesn’t write women like that anymore, please.
— vi.
Maybe, he thought, there aren’t any such things as good friends or bad friends—maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you’re hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they’re always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for, too, if that’s what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart.
I know I said that I’d try to make this as short as possible, but LOL. Overall, I liked the book. I adored the characters and the dynamics, on a general level. The big seven and their friendship made this book what it is. They made this book wonderful. But also, as I said, I cannot give it a full five stars, because of some plot points that I really didn’t like (and didn’t make sense), and for the way Stephen King wrote women. Otherwise, it was a good novel. These characters are going to stick with me forever, and I think that’s what’s most important about any story. I could definitely see myself picking up another Stephen King book in the future, for sure. If you love the power of friendship and the unique bonds it creates, I would definitely recommend the book, especially if you can stomach blood and gore (but I didn’t find that was too graphic). Now I’m going to cry over Eddie Kaspbrak and protect Richie Tozier & Mike Hanlon at all costs, BRB.
Did you read IT? If so, who was your favorite character? Your favorite dynamic? Even if you only saw the films, I’d love to know your opinions in the comment section below!
Rating: ★★★ | GoodReads
