So, something about me: I love Stephen King. I actually collect first edition Stephen King novels and have been for years now. But, I don’t just like the old stuff, I actually like all Stephen King. I buy every book at release and cherish my collection. So, when 2019’s The Institute came out, I picked it up day one… as always.
But,
something happened that doesn’t happen often: I started reading and DID. NOT. STOP… Usually, I take my time with Stephen King, but The Institute comes out swinging. I was swept up in the novel and could not stop reading. I read the novel in four days. I don’t usually binge books, especially Stephen King, but I simply could not stop.
The premise is captivating from the jump. It does start with a secondary character. Well, we don’t know he’s secondary until he disappears and doesn’t show up for another 300 pages. But, it quickly jumps to our protagonist and takes off. It’s an intriguing, question-filled story about a young boy with telekinesis kidnapped in the middle of the night. Luke, the aforementioned young boy, is taken to the titular Institute. Luke is surrounded by children that are similarly gifted with different forms of telekinesis. The main drive of the story is Luke and his newly acquired friends attempting to escape The Institute. But it is so much more than that. They dig deeper into the facility in order to discover what this Institute even is. The story continually keeps you asking questions, and thankfully, answers them all as you go along. It’s a tight, wonderfully-paced tale that only Stephen King could deliver. Of course, it is a Stephen King novel, so it has plenty of blood and despair hidden within. The characters are well fleshed out and I genuinely cared for our group of heroes. Overall, the story doesn’t have a flat spot (unlike some Stephen King novels) and really keeps it together. It has a strong ending (also another rarity in King novels). It’s thoroughly captivating and great all the way through.
In summary, The Institute is one of Mr. King’s stronger showings. It is interesting from the very beginning and never drops the ball. The characters are deep and well rounded. The only gripe I have with the novel is a problem I often find with Stephen King: the build up to the finale takes its time, but the ending feels rushed. I love Stephen King’s world building in The Institute, but it sort of falls by the wayside near the end. There are a handful of things I would love to see after the finale, but the novel doesn’t explore those. It builds up at a delicious pace, but sprints through the finish line and doesn’t stop to celebrate. But, those 550 pages leading up to the finale are so wonderful, my only complaint is that I wanted more than 26 pages of wrap-up. That’s not a bad complaint to have. I’m sure, especially with the King Renaissance we are experiencing, this novel would make a wonderful movie. It’s a total page-turner that had me coming back again and again. It is nearly 600 pages, but they go by fast. I loved The Institute and I would recommend it to anyone, fan of Stephen King or not. I think it is a wonderful starting point for aspiring King readers and certainly is a must-read for constant readers. I was pleasantly surprised by The Institute and would rank it highly among its peers. The Institute gets a 3.5 out of 4. Please go read this book. In fact… just read more Stephen King period. I know I am.
This is the start of my re-reads of Mr. King’s entire catalog. I decided to read his releases in reverse order to keep it fresh. I hope to eventually have a comprehensive list of every Stephen King release. I started this before If it Bleeds was released, so I’m going to be skipping that novel for a little while. But I’ll get to it, I promise. Next up for Stephen King: Elevation!