My ‘King of the month’ for May was Gerald’s Game
Book Description
Once again, Jessie Burlingame has been talked into submitting to her husband Gerald’s kinky sex games—something that she’s frankly had enough of, and they never held much charm for her to begin with. So much for a “romantic getaway” at their secluded summer home. After Jessie is handcuffed to the bedposts—and Gerald crosses a line with his wife—the day ends with deadly consequences. Now Jessie is utterly trapped in an isolated lakeside house that has become her prison—and comes face-to-face with her deepest, darkest fears and memories. Her only company is that of the various voices filling her mind…as well as the shadows of nightfall that may conceal an imagined or very real threat right there with her…
My Thoughts
This is the first time I picked up a Stephen King book having absolutely no idea what to expect. I was worried it’d be some warped horror-erotica novel – thankfully it wasn’t! What I found in Gerald’s Game was a story of suspense, with some real great parts to the plot, and some not so much…
Where I think this novel succeeded was that much of it took place in exactly the same location, it reminded me of Misery in that aspect. With no change of scenery, King managed to have me invested in this novel, the fate of Jessie. Let me tell you, I can name no other author who had me holding my breath, praying that a character would reach a glass of water – I was emotionally invested, the glass must not smash, come on Jessie, you can do it! So love or hate this novel, there’s no denying King’s ability to draw the reader in!
However, where this novel didn’t succeed for me was in the memory recall aspect. Throughout the novel, Jessie recalled trauma from her childhood, and this should have been the emotional aspect [not the glass of water incident], but it wasn’t, it just read so blasély, like the author didn’t care, so why should I? Yes, there was an element of Jessie being detached from the memory, but at the same time, certain trauma, if not all trauma, needs to be written with intention, with meaning, not in the unconnected way this was.
There were elements of true horror in this novel, which is what you want when you pick up a King novel, those moments of classic horror. They worked well with the suspense to keep the momentum going, and while this novel wouldn’t be in my top King recommendations, it’s not in my least favourite Kings either.
The ending of this one was a bit too random for my liking, it truly felt like an error in printing, and the ending from another novel was mistakenly added to this one. It’s bizarre because the ending was really good, had it been part of another novel with a relevant story before it. I think this highlights that King can write extremely well but this novel was just so disjointed – the ending, and the characters introduced at the end, felt like they belonged in The Stand, and I just couldn’t understand the elaborate ending attached to the simpler plot.
As many of you know, I’m working my way through King’s entire library, and while this isn’t one I’ll likely reread, or be rushing to recommend, I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from picking it up either. As mentioned there were some elements to this one that worked extremely well, but I can’t ignore the strong elements that caused this one to fall flat in places.
This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository
It sounds very similar to the movie…I’d be interested to read it one day to compare
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I need to watch the movie to compare, I might watch it this weekend 🤔
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This isn’t a King book that I have read yet, but he is one of my favourite authors. Good luck working your way through his HUGE back catalogue!
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Thank you, I’m really enjoying it, I think I’ve read 15 of his books so far 😊
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I’m picking this one up in August for a readalong. I’ve heard mixed things about this one just from my family alone, so I’ll definitely be going into it with medium expectations 🙂
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I’ll be keeping an eye out for your review, it definitely isn’t one of his most popular but it’s certainly not one of his worst either!
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Wonderful review! I really wish we could have gotten our hands on the book that the ending belonged to because I think we both would have been fans 😉😂
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Haha right, such a bizarre way to end Jessie’s story 🤔
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I’m a big King fan overall, but there are a few books that I’ve never felt like rereading. Gerald’s Game is one of them. Since I’ve read most of his books at least twice, that’s a pretty good indication that it didn’t quite work for me.
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Yeah this isn’t one I’ll be rereading either 😅
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Great review! This one isn’t a reread for me either but I did think the actress did a really amazing job in the adaptation for netflix.
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Thank you! I’m thinking of watching the adaption this weekend 🤔
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I haven’t read this one, but I’ll plan to. I’m not sure if I want to read all of his books but most. I’ve got a long way to go, lol. I don’t even think I’ve seen this movie…Great review, Janel.
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Thank you! He’s got so many books to choose from so I thought I might as well make my way through them all so I don’t miss any gems 😂
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Great review, Janel. I have missed 2 readalongs now and this was one of them. I still plan to read it but who knows when that will happen.
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Thanks Misty! While I didn’t love this one, I’m glad I read it so I understood the reference in Dolores Claiborne
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I need to read both of those now. Maybe I will get to them eventually.
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Are you reading Salems Lot and Colorado Kid??
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Yes I plan to. I’ve place a hold in Salem’s Lot at the library. I can read The Colorado Kid in Scribd.
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Great Review, Janel! Stephen King is notoriously bad at ending his novels, so it makes sense to me that this one’s ending felt out of place to the rest of the book. I’ve not read this one, but the movie on Netflix made me cringe in shock.
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Thanks! I’m planning on watching the movie soon. Yeah the ending was just so bizarre, I usually don’t mind Kings ending and think he gets a worse rap than he perhaps deserves for his endings… Until I read this one 😂
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I didn’t know about this King novel, so thank you for reviewing it!
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My pleasure 😊 The movie adaption is on Netflix too
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To me, Gerald’s Game is one of Stephen’s best books. This is a masterpiece that explored BDSM theme long before 50 Shades did. A tightly written book about sexual adventure led to misadventure, which could happen to anyone. It’s the dog character that knocked me out…Give it to Stephen any day.
I agree the memory recall aspect seemed tardy but I guess it was intended. Overall a good book. Great Pick. Nice review too
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Im so pleased you like my review, I always enjoy talking about Kings books with people! Oh I agree it’s way better than 50 shades! Have you watched the movie on Netflix?
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