Aliens, cancer....or both

First off let me just say life has been crazy lately to say the least and I have been so busy with wedding and moving plans. It has been too long since my last post....but I am back and reading more then ever. So I am very ready to share all my thoughts with ya'll about the books! Lets jump in...

This book was 617 pages and the detail in it was absolutely amazing. I would rate this book a 4/5 but I wouldn't put this in my list of top 10 Stephen King's. This book did keep me on my toes as many of his books do and I was pleasantly surprised with the twists. There was some military talk in this book so if that is something you enjoy then you will definitely enjoy that part. There were a few things I personally had to look up just because I am not as familiar with is as I wish I was. The way this book ends leaving you thinking, "WHAT that didn't happen, how can that be..." but it all makes sense honestly, we will talk more about my theory later. I know there is a movie about this book; I decided not to even bother with it just because the ratings were so low, and after finishing the book I figured they probably butchered the story and the way I envisioned things. I am not going to spoil this book too much for the fact that if you choose to you should definitely read it.

You have been WARNED spoilers ahead

Okay, let's dive in... This book has many ties to IT which I find absolutely fascinating. This book along with IT had a group of friends who were all connected by something which we don't find out exactly what that entails until the end, also like IT (it's telepathy unlike IT which is a sexual weird bond). Also fun fact the cabin they go hunting at is not too far from Derry and they all grew up and went to Derry around the time the Losers were defeating IT. I know crazy coincidence I think, I love that Stephen King takes the time to connect his stories and adds in little Easter eggs such as these.

Basically this group of four friends Beav (Beaver), Henry, Pete, and Jonesy (Gary Jones) all go on a hunting trip every year to the "Hole-in-the wall" in the Jefferson Tract. No matter where life takes them or how bad their days may seem they have each other and their hunting trip to look forward to. When they call each other all they have to say is SSDD and they all know that means everything is alright. Before the hunting trips started when they were walking home from school one day they heard a kids (Duddits/ Douglas) piercing cry as three bullies were horrifically torturing him. They made Duddits strip down to his underwear and were trying to get him to eat a piece of dog shit. Let me just explain how bad this scene really is; Duddits is a teenager with Down-syndrome. These were High-school boys, one of them was Derry's star quarterback who come to find out was kicked off the team. Pete, Henry, Jonesy, and Beav went to the cries and basically scared off the older boys and got them to leave Duddits alone. They helped Duddits get dressed and walked him home. While they were helping him this is when he passed over his telepathy powers without even knowing; they all just felt his cries piercing in their brains and wanted him to stop crying. Beav was the only one who could do this with his singing of course he was embarrassed and told his other friends if anyone ever said anything he would kill them (ohh boys). As time goes on they don't go back home to visit Duddits as often as they did when they all lived in the town so they lose touch, but they always manage to send him cards and call when they can.

Once in Highschool while they were all out Hunting in the cabin with Beav's dad they all had a terrible dream well they thought it was a dream. They were at a terrible car accident and the three bullies were there, but they were all dead. It goes into incredible detail about this scene and I have to say I love the horrifying, gory images King provided. When you get to the end of the story it explains that this wasn't a dream at all, they killed the bullies with telekinesis, that is how strong their bond is (remind you of anything??? *cough cough* IT).

Little did the group of friends know this was going to be their last trip up to the Hole-in-the-wall. While Jonesy and Beav are out hunting in the blizzard, henry and Pete went on a grocery run to the local store down the mountain. Jonesy and Beav end up saving a man who ends up having a terrible stomach bug....or so they think. He has death smelling farts and ends up giving birth to one of the aliens. (we find out later in the story that the Grey guys plant the "shit-weasels" and they eat the intestines of humans and have to exit and continue eating or they die). They are called shit-weasels for the very reason of how they are brought into the world they are describes as worm looking weasels with no arms or legs, beady black eyes, a strong tale that can attach to anything, and a mouth full of teeth (I imagined a sharks mouth). There is also a red moss (Byrum) that grows after they are around the room that can't survive in the cold so it is ironic that the aliens decided to try and survive in the area where a blizzard is. Beav ends up getting eaten by the shit weasel, Jonesy gets taken over by the grey man (or so he thinks), Henry makes it back to the cabin after the car accident and ends up lighting the whole place on fire because the shit weasel laid eggs. Pete gets picked up by Jonesy/Grey man to be used as a map because of Pete's trick (like Danny from the shinning he can tell you where things are).

Henry ends up finding the military base by trudging through the snow on skis. The military has found out that the aliens by having the byrum growing everywhere it gives them the power of telekinesis as well so they are able to read each others minds. Henry makes friends with one of the military guys Owen Underhill, who decides to help Henry escape and find Jonesy who has become an inhabitant for the alien to travel through. They end up going back to Derry grabbing Duddits to help them succeed in the mission of finding Jonesy; and getting rid of the grey man who is planning on planting a shit-weasel in the water supply of millions of civilians. Duddits has Leukemia which none of them knew because they never went to see him. On his mission he ends up passing away and Jonesy realizes that the grey man was all in his mind that he hadn't actually entered him at all. My theory on this is that the Grey man was actually Duddits cancer since all of their brains were linked, because he miraculously dies right as Duddits dies.

In conclusion I am not by any means an alien person, but this was a very interesting new outlook on aliens in general and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was descriptive, terrifying, had a story of survival and had a crazy plot twist also the meaning behind the dreamcatcher. They are all linked by the dreamcatcher in their minds because of their one nightmare so long ago that's how they travel inside each others minds so easily.

Personally I think that this was a great descriptive novel; but Stephen King himself said it wasn't one of his favorites. He was on oxy for pain after a bad car accident and this was the story that got him through that.

I would Love to hear your thoughts on this book if you have read it, seen the movie, or are adding it to your TBR. Lets start a convo!

Thank you so much for reading my blog review and I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!! Until next week, stay reading.

Selena Torres