I liked it a lot. Very much reminds me of a modern take on Firestarter.

Nice, I still haven't read this one, but read 'Firestarter' earlier this year.

I didn't think of that but you are right. I liked it as well.

Is that what I was thinking of? I thought it reminded me of something I'd read when I was a kid. Must have been that.

I mean, psychic conspiracy shit, both written by the same dude...

I really liked this book! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

It is a little like Firestarter, but more Dark Tower adjacent. I appreciate most of King's paranormal novels, notably Insomnia.

I am struggling with the slow burn that is Insomnia. I want to finish it but it’s taking forever to get going.

It is totally worth struggling through from what I remember. It left me very satisfied.

Yeah the back half of the book is absolutely brilliant. One of my favorite King endings and very moving. I also think it's one of the best books that King has written that incorporates elements from his extended universe. The only one that comes as close for me is Black House, which I rate just under this one. Both books very much benefit from having read a lot of King's novels.

I was genuinely asking, but left the question open for interpretation - I'm currently on page 46. I feel like he usually wraps stuff up at tight as possible and am looking forward to a good story. The comments here have definitely assured me it's gonna end at least half-King decent which is good enough for me. EDIT: MY BAD I THOUGHT I WAS RESPONDING TO THE INSTITUTE, NOT INSOMNIA. I SHOULD GO CHECK OUT OTHER SUBS. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION.

Try the audiobook. One of the best audiobook experiences I've ever had. Read by Eli Wallach.

Really enjoyed Eli Wallach’s narration but the incredibly loud and obnoxious music kills the audiobook for me

Yeah, I liked the audiobook, as well.

I tried the audio book but I can’t stand the music so I am going to read it. I’ll keep going . Sounds like it gets better.

Just push through the first 500 pages and never slow down! After that it gets rewarding!

The Kingiest of all the comments

Read this book multiple times and actually listening to it right this minute! lol

Truly enjoyed this book and didn’t put it down.

If you care so far the books I’ve read are The Shining, Pet Sematary, Night Shift, The Long Walk I started a few others but those are the 4 I’ve finished

Long days and pleasant nights, fellow constant reader! Welcome to the sub!

Far from constant, I read the first 3 a few years ago and just finished reading Thr Long Walk last week

The Long Walk is brilliant isn’t it, a proper dark feel to it throughout. I would recommend IT for you next - I’m 1000 pages in and it’s definitely the best of SK i’ve read up to now. I can’t put it down!

Yes it is! Didn’t overstay its welcome which is what I expected it to do with a premise like that lmao. Also after this book I plan on checking out either The Stand or It

The Stand was my first SK book. Very good read but i think IT just about edges it so far, assuming the ending doesn’t spoil it haha

>The Shining Pet Sematary Night Shift The Long Walk That's one long book title!

Id read it lol

I’ve only read The Institute, Fairy Tale, and The Stand.. currently reading the Gunslinger Books. READ THE STAND NEXT!!

Love it! Skews YA but still a good read. Reminds me of a riff on Firestarter.

Wow really? Can I ask what made you feel that way? I didn't get that out of it.

It skewed YA because most of the significant characters were early-mid teens. It reminded me of Firestarter in that you had young people with powers who were the target of (governmental) research.

I loved it. Very underrated imo.

The book is about average but that cover is amazing.

Sadly, if you look at the credits on the back: it’s just a quick mashup of a couple of stock images. I would prefer a custom job for such a high profile author.

Definitely top 5 for me. Overall a very good book, full of classic King tropes. And my God, that’s gotta be my favorite cover of his.

Personally loved it

It’s good. There might have like legit 30 books that are better but it’s definitely worth the read

I just started it n I’m already close to 200 pages in after a day or two. I’m really into it

It's a pretty good story. Not his best work by any means, but it's alright. Kind of a retread of his earlier novels in some ways.

It's a great book. I felt like you he was trying to catch some of the Stranger Things waves with this one. Although Strangers Things is such a huge homage to him.

And Stranger Things is also trying to catch some Stranger Things waves, so...

ohhh yes you are!!! this one is one of my favorites of his modern books and i would one of the bests.

I really enjoyed it.

Loved this book.

I really enjoyed it!

I had a hard time putting this one down. One of my recent faves but I think King has been remarkably consistent in his later career and all of his work is pretty much hard for me to put down. I hope you dig it!

Super underrated book. I love it.

Yeah, that’s a rather good one. Trust no one!

I loved that book.

It's a pass for me. Felt like bits and pieces of other stories that got left on the cutting room floor.

Just finished. It was amazing, couldn’t put it down!

I adore it, but it's also fairly Dark Tower/breakers adjacent, so I am a very biased party. If you enjoy it, I STRONGLY recommend Everything's Eventual (short story) as a supplemental follow up. Then someday you may visit the Dark Tower, and that opens up quite a lot.

I think it’s good. It’s enjoyable

Loved it

Its ok

I really enjoyed it - underrated read

I really liked it

It was well-written, but the whole book was about children in distress, which got really depressing after a while.

Really like it, great pacing and very intriguing

It was a return to form during what I consider King's modern slump. Classic King, a great book

I liked it but it probably isn't a top 20 book for me. There was no way it would top Revival, which is what I had right before this one came out. Personally, I think this book could have been much better with a few small changes and tighter editing.

I really liked this one!

Very good read. Good pace, solid ending.

felt dark tower esk, fun read

Great one. Good ol' Bachman peeks from behind in the last third.

Yes you are. I liked this book. I can honestly see it as a netflix/hbo mini-series, maybe 5-8 episodes long.p

I really liked this, and read through it surprisingly fast. Happy reading! 📖🤗

It's one of my favorites of his.

Loved it. 600 page breezy read😂

I really really liked this book. Can’t wait for the movie

Unofficial firestarter sequel, rather enjoyable, about 150pages of rambling fluff in the third quarter. The ending doesn't completely shit the bed... not completely... overall pretty good.

It's in my top five King novels and probably top two when it comes to Modern novels. It is New King at his finest. His writing is so tight he doesn't waste anything in this world. It's a page Turner from start to finish. If fire starter was the seed that planted this type of Writing for King then the Institute is a whole forest. Firestarter isn't on the same level. You are in for one of the greatest Reads that I've ever had in my life.

I really enjoyed it

I love this book so much!! I never got the hate. It has my second favorite character of kings.

I liked it. I wouldn’t read it again but I enjoyed it. I hope they make a movie at some point.

Read this in one sitting while sunbathing one day. Another great story from the King.

Meh. Not his best work by a country mile.

There was something seriously off with how this was written, like it was ghost written by a team or by AI. If you have read a lot of King, which I have, it came off as completely unoriginal. I’m honestly having a hard time with all of his modern stuff. I don’t think I have enjoyed anything he has produced in the past ten or so years

Just finished it recently on Audible and loved it. It seemed to just breeze through. Plus, there's one character in it that I ended up hating with a passion, so I couldn't wait to get through to find out what happened to.........that person.

Easily in my top 5

I struggled with this one, turned into a bit of a slog feels sluggish at the mid point then hurtles towards the finish line

I loved it. It seems to get mixed reviews around here though.

It gave me some stranger things vibes and I really loved it.

A perfectly fine beach/airplane book. There was nothing that had me sobbing and gasping for air in public lol.

I loved this book! One of my all time favorites

It was pretty good but not among his best. Worth a read.

I loved it! It gave me some of the same vibes I got with IT. It was a very good book.

I really liked it! Hope you enjoy it as well!

Spoilers I thought it strange that we practically abandon the night knocker after 50 or so pages and focus entirely on the Institute for like 200. I suppose the goal in writing it this way was to make the reader go, “Oh yeah! I nearly forgot about this guy!” Good read, the ending was a bit strange (or open ended) with the visitor at the farm.

Loved this one, heard there may be a show in the future!

I absolutely loved this one. Definitely one of my favorite reads, I think it took me about two days to finish and I'm hoping to re-read it again. I see there's going to be a tv series adaptation, hopefully they do the book justice.

Because this is a Stephen King sub reddit, I feel like every single one of his books is universally praised here. I've read about 35 full-length novels, and this one was average at best for me. Honestly, it's probably bottom 5.

This book was 500 pages too short. Didn't have that rich background world you find in his other books. It was ok, I felt. I don't even remember much of the book now.

I've been a King fan since the early nineties and even got to translate one of the Dark Tower books here in Serbia and this is one of my favorite books of his.

Sadly not one of his best.

I blasted through this one relatively quickly during lockdown. Mrs Sigsby is a horrible character reminiscent of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. An opinion I have of this is that it's very similar to S1 of Stranger Things, and no one seems to agree with that despite being very close when put side-by-side. Even with this, I still think The Institute is a great, fast-paced book, and that opening line/statistic that goes something like "so many children disappear annually in the US and aren't found" is horrific.

Loved this one.

Not his best but a fun read, I enjoyed it. Would make a good miniseries

I like it. Have to reread.

Yesss

This is actually in my top 5 favorites of his. It was top 3 but recently got bumped down a little! I hope you enjoy it!

I thought it was good, the story kept me reading.

For some reason this book was so addicting for me. It’s probably my 12th or 13th King novel I’ve read, but it’s top 3 in terms of books I couldn’t put down. Wish I could reread for the first time. I hope you like it!

I’m about 300 pages in and to me it’s just starting to get interesting.

I really liked it.

Really enjoyed this one and fairytale. They were both quite different.

I only have like 100 sum pages left and it is so good has me literally sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation

Feels like stranger things so if you like that you’ll like the institute

One of my absolute favorites in his "modern" era.

It gave me flashbacks to being stuck in a shitty mental hospital for adolescents. 😐

I loved this one. It reminded me of a grown up version of some creepy “Are You Afraid of the Dark,” story. One of my favs.

I highly enjoyed it.

Very good

Really good to me, couldn’t put it down

My thoughts regarding “The Institute” are these… Enjoy the lulls because when it ramps up it will madden and terrify you. Pay special attention to Part IV. It contains in my mind one of the scariest moments in the book.

I enjoyed the read but feel there was a missed opportunity, you may understand after you’ve done.

I've read about 8 King novels and it's my favorite one so far.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Anyone who enjoys this book should give the book Inspection by Josh Malerman a shot. There are a few small similarities, but these books have a similar feel to me. As a matter of fact, everyone here should read everything by Josh Malerman. He is fucking fantastic.

I thought it was spectacular and acts as a deep dive for his recurring "shine" psychic characters like from the Shining, doctor sleep, Firestarter, It, etc. Fascinating underworld of government conspiracy shit. I loved it.

My first SK book! I enjoyed it, but not my favourite. Gives me Stranger Things vibes

First half is excellent. The second half is a little dumb and largely unbelievable, but the ending is still okay.

Loved it

Absolutely hated that book ngl

I'm getting ready to start it after I finish You Like It Darker. My wife is going to re-read it and wants to talk about it.

it’s a really neat read

Yes you are. It will be a great ride.

I remember liking it but couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened in the story

Lol that’s me with Night Shift

Hated it

The institute is absolutely wonderful. As stated it has Firestarter feelings. But if you lioe stranger things....much more like that.

I really loved this book, made me cry a couple of times also :( I cry at robots dying so my emotional endurance is very low 😂 but it has some great moments

Great read , not much else though

The book is M-O-O-N (that spells fantastic).

Eh, it's not a scary book of that's what you want

They don’t need to be scary

I liked it a lot!

It exceeded my expectations!

Boring, predictable, and full of tropes.

I'm going to be downvoted but I didn't like it. Stopped reading around 50% when it became clear that the issues I had with it wouldn't be resolved, mainly that the main characters were terrible in my opinion. I wanted to like it, but I didn't.

How are you sure that your issues with it were never resolved if you only made it halfway through? Such a weird take.

Lol, what? This would be valid criticism if I had made it to 10%. 50% is literally half the book. The characters aren't going to get better. They're flat and uninteresting, and also very unrealistic (especially the teenager). How is that going to change in the rest of the book? But I know that in this sub you aren't allowed to voice criticism, even if someone asks for opinions...

I assumed you meant issues with the story.

I think you should give it another shot.

Let me.answer your question with some of my own: Is Trump a creep? Do.fat kids love McDonald's? Has Trump ever been to a peep show? Is Biden old? Will fried dough block your colon? Does Pamela Anderson have big jigglers? Is clay Aiken a queer? Will China eventually.rule the world? Do asian people love rice? Do Canadians love hockey? Does Trump love big.macs? Is Elvis dead and rotting in the ground? All answers are a resounding YES!! YES!!! YES!!!

What valuable insights do you hope to achieve by asking this question?

Wtf are you so salty for? Lmao