The Institute by Stephen King Tries A Little Too Hard To Be Stranger Things...And Misses The Mark

Mike gives his non-spoiler and spoiler thoughts on the newest addition to his Constant Reader library; The Institute by Stephen King.

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Mike K.
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#StephenKing #TheInstitute #MikesBookReviews

[timkirsten]

I actually really liked Tim's character and wished he had more development and a bigger role throughout the book. Especially given his detailed start.

[nsartin]

What ive found since obsessing over King books over the last month, watching reviews, getting ideas on what to read next is this... Dont decide what to read based on these reviews! Mikes great, obviously loves king and loves reading and these videos are great content (my fave booktoober) BUT, I would find out on your own. I loved Billy Summers and have been blown away on how many constant readers and such didn't like it. That book got me reading again full fledge and Ive thought about it for weeks since finishing. Get your OWN opinion by reading it first then you can be a critic. Everyones pallet is different and none of these reviews are gospel! Mike even attests to this in most of his reviews which I appreciate.

[minimumviableplayer]

I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The only pain point for me is the how underused Luke's intelligence is. If he was just above average clever and curious it might have been enough, but he is setup to be a genius savant, even though for most of the book he mostly thinks and elaborates things like a regular smart kid.

[rustyshackleford]

I'm only about halfway through the book right now, but I'm loving every second of it. I have a hard time putting it down. Those institute employees though....kind of makes me want a Carrie level TK to come in and tear the place apart.

[maddy]

Picked it up today, looking forward to finish it in one sitting!

Edit: 9 hrs I did it. I liked the ending, full of action. 5/5

[sincman]

Just finished The Institute today and thought it was fantastic! The way they mistreated those poor kids with head slaps and dunking them in the tank was so infuriating I couldn't wait for revenge and Luke's escape as well as the shootout at the police station had me turning pages like a madman! Great read!

[elkaissihicham]

I had never wanted to read Sephen King tbh. but, on the 10th Semp while I was shopping I saw The Institute and I said hey let's give it a try. So, I bought without knowing it was just published.
I hope I will enjoy it. Nice review by the way, I'm new to your channel.

[jessiejames]

Great review brother. Just found your channel and love your content. New subscriber👊

[BearikadeGames]

I clicked on to this video telling myself I'd need to leave before the spoiler section because I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Then as you're explaining I'm thinking to myself "This sounds an awful lot like that book I read awhile ago... what was it called again?" and then once you get into the spoilers I realize "Oh yeah, it WAS this book that I was thinking of. I guess I've read it after all." and I think that says all that needs to be said about this book.

[jeanerasmus]

Man, King really knows how to make his readers loathe his villains. I really enjoyed this one because there were some claustrophobic terrifying scenes that gave me flashback of The Shining. It's scary but it has so much heart.

[thebookbro]

Dang I love those pictures on the wall. Definitely agree about the character development, I can't remember any of the characters but Annie and Tim. Def had some stranger things vibe; different from a lot of King's stuff I've loved, but still holds its own. Thanks for the great review!!

[turtleanton]

84 is not close to true. And Darktower ending is AMAZING

[nickdorenkamp]

I feel like the two kid characters who had two of the best character arcs and probably the best relationship in the book were Luke and Avery. The reason for why Luke's arcs was one of the best was because we see him go from this normal regular genius kid to not just a genius kid who realized he had to grow up and escape his captors in order to come back and save his friends. As to why I loved Avery's arc it wasn't because he was a little kid but because he went from a kid who got his feelings heart as well as from someone to being bullied his whole life to a character who would protect his friends no matter what that even includes taking some of the beatings. As for his relationship with Luke well it kinda had more of this brotherly bond that kinda reminded me of the bond between Bill and Georgie had in IT.
As for the other kid characters they were okay just kinda wish they had some more development.
As for my own personal thoughts on the book in it's entirety I'd say it's like a combination of IT, The Shawshank redemption, and The Shining. The only horror element this book had were the stuff involving what goes on in back half and in the back half of back half but other than that yeah it's pretty a prison break story where the part where one of our main kid characters breaks out almost feels like something out of a Clint Eastwood movie or Prison break movie where by the time our main kid character gets help and captures two of his captors you can kinda imagine what look he would have in his eye and It's the look that would say I don't give two F@#$in S@$# s.
In terms of Stephen King books I'd say this one of his best modern stories so far which I rate some around 9/10 and in terms of comparing it to other novels I have read I give it 8/10.
Can't wait when the guys who adapted Mr. Mercedes to adapt this into a limited series.

[RJPrice-qiuv]

This is Stephen King's 61st novel All of his are their words are in the high eighties or early nineties have you include every novella in short story collection or just chepren novelli's or short stories independent from any collection

[willwestray]

I just finished the book and really liked it. I was definitely hooked. I do agree that it could've benefited from more detail and attention on other characters. I get it was mainly about Luke's journey, but it would be more impactful to feel more connected and invested in some other kids. But still a great story and I loved a lot of characters like Maureen and Annie was awesome.

[sethsimmons]

This was my second Stephen King book that I have read thus far in my journey. I started with IT but DNF’d (sorry, I know it’s your favorite, but I just couldn’t take a clown seriously for that long). Then I tried the Stand and absolutely loved it. Next came The Institute. Definitely felt like the writing style was a bit different than what I had gotten accustomed to, and the terminology he employed felt like he was trying a bit hard at times. I love a good page turner though, and I thought the ending came together nicely, albeit maybe a bit rushed. Your assessment is definitely fair, so thank you for your honesty as always!

[onepunch]

Mike, I just found your vids a couple days ago. I subscribed. 👍🏼

I see the possible ties to Firestarter and The Dead Zone.
I also see ties to Hearts in Atlantis and The Dark Tower.
These kids captured by The Institute are being groomed to become "breakers".
Remember the kids ruint (edit: roont) in Wolves of the Calla?

[Mr]

Realized something upon finishing this book that sometimes bothers me about King that I've never tried to put into words but I guess sometimes he has the tendency to dismantle his villains too easily at the end of his books. Like after creating an absolutely fascinating villain he allows them to be reduced at the end of the story to sort of "what do you mean I've been bested?! How can this be?! This is so unfair! I will now begin to implode." I feel like he was guilty of this towards the end of The Stand in particular. *SPOILERS ahead* I was really excited to find out more about the lisping man who had been shrouded in so much mystery and seemed so eerie and I was honestly disappointed with how he just ran away like a frightened rabbit. Maybe I'm just being to cynical but I thought there could have been more complexity to the ending instead of the "Boy we sure did get those bad guys didn't we" attitude. Also his frequent stand out political references did feel unnecessary and took me out the story. All in all though I really enjoyed this one and thought that Kings buildup and slow release of information about the inner workings of the institute kept the tension going and made for a pretty exciting book.

[ballerinafromtheblock]

Just finished this so excited to see what someone else thinks. I didn’t wanna spoil it for myself. A lot happened in this book🤔

[wolvAUS]

Just finished. This was my first king book and my first book in 5 years. Really enjoyed it, ending was a tad anticlimactic but still good.

4/5