Name: Doctor Sleep
Rating: 4.010121457489879 (247 reviews)
ISBN: 9781594137624

Stephen King

Doctor Sleep

Rose Donovan

Antonio Marini

Ho aspettato tanto prima di leggere un libro di Stephen King, e rimpiango di non averlo letto prima. Il genere horror e thriller non è il mio preferito, ma questo autore è veramente coinvolgente. Possibile che anche andando in bagno non riesco a togliermi dalla testa: "dov'è il Corvo?".

After decades as an itinerant alcoholic, middle-aged Dan Torrance uses his remnant powers to assist the dying before coming to the aid of a twelve-year-old girl being tortured by a tribe of murderous paranormals.

A Novel

Scott Wilson

This was the best book I have read this year.... What an amazing novel and this book is so set up to continue the story even further into the future if Mr. King was so inclined. The questions I am left with at the end are: i) Will Abra subcome to addiction? ii) Is the smile that she has a sign of an evil side that might come (?) iii) What other relations have the shining but have suppressed it? Reviews are so hard to write because you want to talk about details but you don't want to ruin the book for those that will follow... All I can say is that I absolutely loved this book!! I will definitely be rereading it and probably within a year!

Roman

M. Sosotris

I loved this one. Still as tense and sharply plotted as the first one, though not as scary, but that’s okay. This is a companion to the first one. Whereas The Shining is about the destructive capabilities of addiction, this is about the struggles of moving beyond addiction. The characters are great, and the expansion of the lore is really well done. The villains are creepy and imaginative, and I love how all the threads come together. Overall, this feels more like a supernatural thriller.

Would recommend!

Now a major motion picture starring Ewan McGregor! From master storyteller Stephen King, his unforgettable and terrifying sequel to The Shining—an instant #1 New York Times bestseller that is “[a] vivid frightscape” (The New York Times). Years ago, the haunting of the Overlook Hotel nearly broke young Dan Torrance’s sanity, as his paranormal gift known as “the shining” opened a door straight into hell. And even though Dan is all grown up, the ghosts of the Overlook—and his father’s legacy of alcoholism and violence—kept him drifting aimlessly for most of his life. Now, Dan has finally found some order in the chaos by working in a local hospice, earning the nickname “Doctor Sleep” by secretly using his special abilities to comfort the dying and prepare them for the afterlife. But when he unexpectedly meets twelve-year-old Abra Stone—who possesses an even more powerful manifestation of the shining—the two find their lives in sudden jeopardy at the hands of the ageless and murderous nomadic tribe known as the True Knot, reigniting Dan’s own demons and summoning him to battle for this young girl’s soul and survival...

It’s a great book but I think I’ll always like The Shinning better. 

Fatima Anwar Kamal

Justin Staack

Briar's Reviews

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King was one of my most wanted novels for the past couple of years. I ended up buying it (full price, completely shocker - I'm a bargain hunter) and having it stay on my shelf. I stared at it for years. Literal years. I wanted to read it but I was scared I was going to be disappointed. The Shining was cool but didn't hit me like It did, so I figured Doctor Sleep might be like the Shining... but it's also a sequel. Sequels don't always do well.

Welp, it didn't hit me in the way I hoped. I really wanted to enjoy it, but some of it didn't do well for me. I loved all of Dan's parts (honestly, adult Dan's story is what I wanted to follow not the crazy chase of the Shining chasing weirdos) but didn't care for the rest. Dan felt like a real person - he had flaws, was struggling to get by after a rough childhood, and was despicable at times (enjoyable despicable though, like Loki). 

Abra was the stereotypical teenager for me. It was obvious she was written by an adult male and didn't have the excitement or life in her that a normal teenager does. She was too stereotypical with cultural references and felt like an adult trying to pretend to be a teenager. Dan's relationship with her also felt weird and forced, but that's just my opinion.

The True Knot bored me to tears and just annoyed me. I couldn't care less for their side of the story. I don't know why either! The bad guys are normally the fun ones to follow but they confused, annoyed and bored me. The mixture of these guys with Abra was very boring to me. I wanted to see lots of Dan - his job, his life, his struggles, more ghosts and the likes. I didn't want to see these guys because they felt like a completely different story. The two stories did not mash together well for me. 

I finished the book because I want to watch the movie. I love comparing books to their film adaptations so I stuck through it. Otherwise, I would have just skimmed through to Dan's parts, read his, and then went on about my day. This book made me so sad. I really wanted to like it! Stephen King's writing is magnificent, it's literally just the overall story plot that didn't get me. His writing kept me going.

Two out of five stars.

Kelly

This was possibly even better than The Shining - and certainly better than the movie. It was spooky and suspenseful and very well-developed.

Rebecca Shaffer

I was hesitant to read this book after absolutely loving The Shining. While it didn’t top the experience of it’s predecessor, it was absolutely worth reading and might come close for some readers. It has connections to the plot of the first book and treats Danny’s childhood with the twisted reverence you would expect. However Dr. Sleep is a worthy novel in its own right. I loved the story of Dan as an adult and am so glad King chose to write this follow up. Read it.

Ashley Janssen

I listened to the audiobook the second time through and it was SO GOOD. Looking forward to the movie adaptation.

Celeste Richardson

Revisiting a famed story over 35 years after its original publication has to be terrifying for any author, even the King of Horror. However, King handled this with great aplomb and, though I was skeptical in the beginning, I feel that he did right by Dan Torrence. In his author’s note King said that this story spawned from two questions: “Whatever happened to that kid from The Shining?” and “What would have happened to Danny’s troubled father if he had found Alcoholics Anonymous instead of trying to get by with what people in AA called “white-knuckle sobriety”?” Through Doctor Sleep, we get answers to both of these questions, but with Danny himself standing in for Jack Torrence in the alcohol department.
“There are other worlds than these.”
Even after escaping the Overlook Hotel, Danny is haunted by both his past and the beings that plagued his stay at the Overlook. As an adult, Danny still has the Shining but adulthood and alcoholism have weakened it considerably. When he finally finds a place that feels enough like home to draw him away from his marauding, people are put in Danny’s path who help him sober up and stay that way. He manages to crawl out of the bottle and build himself a pretty good life, working at a hospice and helping scared people ease their way out of this life and into the next. When a child in the area begins reaching out to him telepathically, he lends out his own invisible friend from childhood. But when this Shining girl finds herself hunted by RV-driving vampires who feed on the death screams of children like her, Danny must not only come to her aid but face a past he had hoped was long buried.
“The Shining. It was a good name, a comforting name, because she had always thought of it as a dark thing.”
Both the secondary protagonist (a girl named Abra with a more massive dose of the Shining than anyone Danny has ever met) and the main antagonist (a beautiful vampiric woman named Rose the Hat, for the top hat that she always wears) are fascinating characters who King imbued with epic portions of personality. Dynamically crafted characters are one of King’s specialties, in my opinion, though their development throughout their stories isn’t on par with authors like Joe Abercrombie and Robert Jackson Bennett, for instance. Side note: I always thought this cover was weird, but now that I understand it I adore it.
“There came a time when you realized that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.”
King is also a master craftsman of unique plots, or putting unique spins on older ideas. In both cases, the man knows how to write a captivating story, even if he doesn’t always seem to know how to end them. I don’t have as much of an issue with his endings as some of his fans, but I’m also not the pickiest of readers. I did think that the climactic scene of this book was a bit too cut-and-dry, and that it wrapped up too neatly and too soon. 
“I changed it. I had to. Do you know why?" She studied him, her eyes grave. "Because that was then and this is now. Because the past is gone, even though it defines the present.”
One of my favorite elements of King novels is the hunt for references to his other works. This book didn’t disappoint in that regard. Early in the story, King even referenced a villain crafted by his son Joe Hill in the book NOS4A2, which I thought was a very fun addition. It’s the inclusion of little references like these, combined with unique plots and interesting characters, that keep me reading King’s work. I can’t believe I was ever not a fan.
“Learning itself is a present, you know. The best one anybody can give or get.”
Doctor Sleep wasn’t perfect, but it was far from disappointing. I was completely enthralled from the first page to the last. As with his other works, reading this book just made me want to immediately read more novels from him, which is a wonderful side effect for a reading experience to have. I’m sure I’ll be looking askance at any RV I see for quite some time. If you visited the Overlook Hotel in the past and enjoyed your stay, I strongly suggest you pick up this book. Just watch out for beautiful women in raggedy top hats.

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

Cams Campbell

I got this as a Christmas present and tucked into over the holidays. It brought back to me instantly why I've read so many Stephen King novels. I love his writing style and it gives me great pleasure to read such a master of his craft. As with other King novels, this one grabbed a hold of my attention and wouldn't let me go until I was done. No TV, no Facebook, just Doctor Sleep. And d'you know what? It was helluva enjoyable. 

So, why only three stars? I felt let down slightly by the end section. I can't really put my finger on why and I don't want to add spoilers to my review. It's also, as I've found with a lot of Stephen King novels, quite forgettable. Thrilling, attention-grabbing and forgettable. It's a strange combo.

I did love the AA and recovery that permeated Dan Torrance's story. Let's just say I can relate. 

And the reference to the Dark Tower made me laugh out loud with joy. I think this is the first of his novels I've read since finishing that series. His reference in the afterword was a peach, too. 

I've just added The Shining to my list for the year. Of course I've seen the movie, but never read the book, and that's rather unlike me.

Doctor Sleep: A Novel

Nicole Sargent-Carberry

Didn’t think I’d like this, but I LOVED this

Doctor Sleep

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