katekintailbc | Joyland by Stephen King (Reply)

Joyland
by Stephen King
(Audio)

I keep starting audiobooks and not really feeling them. So I spotted this at the library and it sounded interesting. Then I completely devoured it. It's the story of a young man named Dev who gets a summer job between college semesters at an amusement park called Joyland. The amusement park is a magical world with its own vocabulary and culture. My favorite part of the book was feeling like I was right in there with Dev, learning to work the spin and watching Howie dance down the street to the Wiggle Waggle village.

But Joyland has one dark ride, one where a woman was murdered years and years ago. And, in typical Stephen King fashion, there's an element of the supernatural at work as well. A fortune teller who claims to have the sight sees some things in his future that end up coming true. And then one of his friends/coworkers sees the ghost of the murdered girl. And another friend starts doing research about the killer. And then, to throw another wrinkle into the story, there's a little boy who lives down the street who's sick and dying and Dev, super nice guy that he is, wants to do something to help. And this little boy? He also has the sight.

So this story is part coming-of-age drama, part mystery, and part ghost story. All together, it was such a fun read! I loved the park so much, like it was its own character. But I loved the characters as well. Dev and Erin and Mike and everybody. The story felt so locked into a place and time with every detail coming alive in a pleasantly dated and creative way.

I must admit I guessed the identity of the killer about halfway through, but I was still on the edge of my seat, wondering how everything was going to play out. And even though I saw a lot of it coming, I was still shocked when it happened! What a great, fun read!