Insomnia by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am so in LOVE with this story!!!
It’s hard for me to fathom now that I was ever intimidated by Insomnia. Legit for years, I was too scared to pick it up.
Honestly, I don’t even think I ever read the synopsis, so it had nothing to do with that.
I tend not to for King’s books, as I know I am going to pick them up regardless of what it says.
After reading this, I would recommend it to any Constant Reader. If you have been putting this one off, maybe intimidated by its size like I was, please don’t be.
Insomnia is charming, captivating, heart-warming and spine-chilling, with Kingverse connections galore.
As always, King’s character work is just phenomenal; definitely my favorite aspect.
Our protagonist is Ralph Roberts, who after losing his wife gradually develops severe insomnia. Not the low-key aggravating-kind, the continuous, question what you’re seeing while awake-kind.
We follow Ralph, a resident of Derry, as he grapples with his new reality and tries to navigate the world with unrested eyes.
It was so great to be in Derry. There’s a lot happening in that special little town town and Ralph ends up in the middle of it all. Along with his closest companion, Lois, they battle terrifying forces wrecking havoc amongst their friends and neighbors.
There are numerous Dark Tower references, as well as tidbits connecting to the greater King-created world in general. I eat that up. Easter Eggs all day, baby. I can’t get enough of them.
While I recommend this book whole-heartedly to the Constant Readers out there…
I’m not sure it would be as impactful, or feel as extraordinary, to a reader without the background to make the connections.
I could be wrong though, as there is a lot going on in this story outside of all that. There’s social commentary, frightening villains and some intense action scenes; obviously a fantastic setting and believable, well-thought out characters.
I cannot say much more about it. I really can’t say anything about the plot without spoiling things, so we’ll leave it at this:
I loved it, I will read it again and I recommend it to any Stephen King fan!
