Elevation - Stephen King

Genre: Short story

Release Date: 30th October 2018

I'm going to be honest - I still don't completely understand anything that happened during the course of this story but I know I had fun reading it. Now, this actually won the Goodreads horror award in 2018 but this is a strange blend between realism, horror and fantasy so it's honestly hard to put in a box.

Scott Carey is losing weight. Now that might not sound like a problem, but he's losing so much weight and not changing at all. His body looks the same. His clothes fit the same. He's just getting lighter and lighter every day and even a trusted friend and Doctor can't seem to find the problem. In his small town, he's also dealing with disputes with his neighbours and business owners who are themselves trying to navigate dealing with homophobia and judgement in a small town. But all these problems bring unlikely alliances into Scotts life ... making their life just that little bit lighter, you could say.

Looking at this book technically, nothing happens. Nothing exciting, no real drama or conflicts to speak of. It's a slow-burning, waiting game of following the monotomy of an average mans life as it turns to anything but average. There's work, there's the towns annual race, there's a resturant opening ... but that's it. And somehow I was still hooked onto every word, dying to find out just what was happening to Scott. And while nothing overtly horrific happened, there was a looming sense of fear just hanging around as you progress through each chapter.

There is just enough of the supernaturally strange occurances in this book to inspire some thinking and reflection from the reader, and just enough left unanswered for personal interpretation (and also mild frustration!)

Overall, this book was a very quick read - written in an almost detatched, cold way that could either suck you in or make you lost interest.

But if you're looking for a quick horror fix, this isn't the book for you.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Comments

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+ Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

" This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration. But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...

On Bee's Bookshelf

Search This Blog