michael_benavidez's reviews
360 reviews

Most books that I read are disgusting, but know they are so and don't show any shame. The books aren't dressed up or cloaked in some sort of other genre, instead the relish in the disgusting messes that they are. Unapologetic, they are what they are and do not deny it.

Lolita, is something else. It doesn't try to be anything different, all the while not admitting how disgusting it is. The actions, the scenes, every bit that is just revolting is...well it isn't revolting. The prose is so beautiful, it is romanticized that the moment you realize what he is really saying, makes one double-take the entire passage.

I read that many people see this book as a romance, and some even lower their rating because how unlike a romance it is. I went in with no expectations of such. Merely a brief understanding of a pedophile and his love, and that was that.

The only romance is one-sided and for the vast majority of the book, is acknowledged less in love and more in lust. Even in these "romance" portions, the love is won by blackmail, by bribes, by any means necessary. The most cruel portions is that he sees every detail, and yet never sees her pain that he is causing. Actually that is a lie, there are brief one sentence passages in which he does mention her suffering, but throws it over his shoulder in favor of his own emotions.
It isn't until later on that such things come to light, and I won't go so far into the book to spoil such things.

Before I go onto the review, let me say this. Yes, this book has small flaws, and I should take away a star for it. No, I will not take away the star because I feel the goods heavily outweigh the flaws.
Also, this will be in two parts. Review of the book and review of the series. Well, not a review but more like my thoughts on how they hold together.

The final chapter in the tale of Roland and his ka-tet, and as such it needs to have the weight that this could end badly. King does everything right, he fixes all the loose ends that the last few books opened up, he brings the group together and back into Mid-World/End-World.
It feels like a game of chess, he has all of the characters set up, fully grown into the best that they are (which is how it should because this wasn't a series based on plots, but on the characters and how they grow) and on the other side stands the Dark Tower whose moves are unknown. They act out the final moments, every character acting as they should, and they begin to feel the end of their journey coming. And when each end comes, it shatters every emotion. That's where this book excels, the emotions that come with it. 7 books (8 with Wind Through The Keyhole) of traveling with these people, seeing them change and become as one, and they are at the end which I will not dare spoil. Only that each ending (as frustrating as they may be) is done as they are. It's not what we want, it's not perfect, but it is the RIGHT way.

The bad is that King developed a habit of narrating in the way that he lets us know of the ends coming. Instead of making the ends a more surprising manner, and still keeping with the heavy emotion tied to each one, he brought the emotion by giving very heavy hints of what was about to happen. Just a personal thing, it bugged me.
Also, there were several main villains through the series, and the solution to them came off as a bit of a letdown. Again, it wasn't perfect, but it was right. But it was a bit anti-climatic to have things go in that direction when they've been hinted at and full on confronted with in the past books.


As a whole, this series is a great way to see King's evolution in writing. Not every book is fantastic, some hold up better than others, but they are still great books. The direction always seems to be a bit of a turn here and there, as though there was no idea where it was headed, but this does help in allowing the characters room to breathe. A very wonderful set of books that die-hard King fans must read, and for those who enjoy something that doesn't limit itself to one genre. Or style of writing for that matter.

This book will keep the four stars that I first gave it, though I am looking at it with a new respect.
When I first read the book I remember it being slow and interesting. This time around however it seemed to breeze through situation after situation. While not necessarily a bad thing, it really didn't give me time to breathe in between the chain of events. At least not until the chapter breaks.
Everything was fairly simple and straight forward, though Rowling did a hell of a job world building in this first book, while keeping the focus on the plot. She does well to give the characters believable personalities, and sticking to them.
Other than that there really isn't much wrong, except for the breezing through events. Again not a bad thing, but it didn't really leave time to let everything sink in.
Still an addicting read, and a great way to start off the series.

Being the second in a series the more prominent flaw in this book, is the way Rowling decides to update the readers on what happened in the last volume.
The story is well crafted as the first. Though as plots go this one is a bit wider than the simpler first book, which is done in order to build the large cast of characters. However, it does suffer from info dumps. At random moments when important backstory is needed, she gives somewhat long winded info dumps that when it is over, it's hard for the reader to pick up the story before it.
The only other flaw is that she still seems to rush through the scenes. Rowling goes from one to the other that sends the reader (or at least it did for me) back tracking to see what they may have missed.
Other than that, the story holds up well, the characters are expanded on, new ones are introduced, and the plot is dealt with intelligently without having to resort to babying the reader along.

Rowling has reached that peak in her writing where the flaws are seamless.
The story takes it's time, no longer feeling rushed, but remaining easier to read. The characters have matured with the writing, and continue to act as normal characters (though Ron seems to be a bit off putting in this book for me).
This is also the start in the series where everything from the past book collides, that epic moment where the real threat is now real and no longer a random moment of events that are following Harry Potter. Being the book to start that, it's great to see that she no longer rushes the story, allows each moment to unfold at it's own pace.

Order of the Phoenix is probably the most angst ridden of the books, and yet it makes perfect sense.

Rowling took to understanding just how imperfect her characters are, and this book goes through the lengths to show it. Harry Potter is dealing with being left out of the dealings with the return of Voldemort. All of the past journeys have piled up within Harry all in this one book.
There really is no wrongs in this book, Rowling continues to expand the wizard universe, her improvements in writing carry on to this book, and the characters are all more real.

This is the book that marks the beginning of the end. The pieces are slowly coming together, Dumbledore now has Potter by his side working to help learn the secrets to Voldemort.
The relationship between the three friends are fragile as ever as love begins to play a role in their actions.
The Half-Blood Prince may be the one book with the greatest of character build AND plot evenly balanced out. Mostly because this is the second to last book, all the pieces that Rowling has set up, now need to be put in the right places in order to advance us to the finale. It partly works. Everything is balanced, the twists are rightly timed, the turns are never forced. However, as far as relationships go, some do feel forced.
Before anyone complains, I don't hate that Harry is paired with Ginny or anything along those lines, for anyone. I just wished it had been built a bit clearer.
Unless I missed a piece early on, there's a moment where Harry suddenly begins to think about Ginny and it feels completely out of place. as though she had the thought from the beginning they should end together but forgot to really add that throughout.
It's small bits like that, that caused me to take off a star. The plot is solid, the characters are at their peak, but the relationships seem to be forced or just unnatural at times.

The goods: the art is fantastic, a bit explicit in the sexual compartments but the art is remarkable.
The bad: everything else. The story seems to be an excuse for the art. To draw up these overly sexual situations, with a sad excuse for a story. Maybe the story wouldn't be so bad were it not for the childish writing and dialog. The writing was dull and never seemed as though the art was done first and the writing forced in to make it a legible story.

As the final installment in the Harry Potter series:
The Deathly Hallows is what everything has bee amounting to. It isn't until this moment that you see how carefully all the building blocks have been placed. Harry and his companions are no longer facing the dangers of Hogwarts, but of the real wizarding community (and Hogwarts too) as it comes under the influence of Voldemort. As the last book in the war with Voldemort, Rowling doesn't pull any punches.

As a series:
This is a book that a reader can grow with. The characters grow in realistic bounds (despite the unrealistic scenarios they are placed under). With each book the plots grow, the cast expands and they all grow up in their own way. It isn't until you go through each book to the very end, that you realize how far thought out this series is, and how well a job Rowling did at world building.

Stephen King has been labeled a horror writer, a writer that has monsters and demons and all this other crazy outer-limits shit that grinds their bloody axe to sever some heads.
This book contains four novellas that isn't any of that. Well not much, there's imagery in some of the stories that reminds us of his more popular horror reads. But for the most part he's sticking to characters (which is what he does best, I think). These are stories that focus on different things, freedom, innocence, our dark sides, and death with a touch of life. There is no supernatural hoodoo in here, and still it shines.

"Fast-paced page turners..." -People
That's what's on the back of the book. I don't think they really read the book. These are novellas that take their time, they build slowly to an outcome that is more than satisfying in their own ways. It isn't action packed, it's insightful, it's clever and it gives this breath of fresh air from all the other kinds of stories that he publishes (which are good in their own right).