Desperation by Stephen King Book Review & Reaction | Surprisingly Poor Character Work Holds it Back

Mike heads to Desperation, Nevada to talk the 1996 novel Desperation by Stephen King.
You can purchase Desperation here: amzn.to/3WWnojG (physical) amzn.to/3WUeGm3 (digital) amzn.to/3O2oLtd (audio)
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0:00 Introduction & Background Info
2:07 What Is It About?
3:16 What Makes It Good or Bad?
13:24 Why You Should Read It
15:04 Final Thoughts
17:05 Multiverse Connections
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#MikesBookReviews #StephenKing #Desperation

[@RLX5201]

Damn, I absolutely loved Desperation (what a great name for that town by the way!). Thought the horror elements were great and the opening sequence was insane. He really didn't pull any punches with this one.

[@DarthSnugglePuss]

Desperation was not only my first Stephen King book, it was the first novel I ever read when I was 11 years old. Because of that, it holds a special place in my heart.

[@tombarcus4848]

same with me my first "big novel" and for that will always love it

[@grumpypants8113]

The religious aspect didn’t bother me at all. I thought it worked fine in the book, and was actually refreshing considering most portrayals of religion in King tend to be of the Mrs. White/Mrs. Carmody variety.

[@TecDax]

I don't think I ever laughed as much while reading as I did when reading Desperation, Tak is just hilarious. Him taking the possibility of a dollknapper dead serious almost killed me.

[@adamrasmusson6976]

Love your stephen king reviews. Nobody else has their finger on the pulse of his novels like you do. Thank you for these.

[@angelaholmes8888]

I absolutely enjoyed insomnia I didn't struggle with that book⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@lesliegordon2313]

Probably the best review of Desperation I've seen on Book Tube. Excellent, Mike. I agree with you wholeheartedly about the hit and miss chemistry of the book.

[@DaveShaves44]

i have yet to watch this video because i still need to read this one, BUT surprised to hear you do not like it. I know for a lot of king readers it seems to be very well loved. to each their own! cant wait to finally read this one!

[@samm8190]

Glad the King videos are back. I use these to decide which of his books I should read. 😆

[@louisyank5326]

Preface: I love your takes on King books Mike. This one, I’ve never disagreed more strongly in a book. In my opinion, this is his #1 most underrated book. I’m so surprised you feel this way because after reading 30 or so of his books, this has some of his best characters, greatest scares (and a great villain), redemption arc (we agree on this one), and one of his best take-home themes from my recollection of reading him for 7 or so years. I have NOT read Rose Madder so maybe I’d change my opinion on Steve and Cynthia after reading that, so I can’t say I disagree with you on that point. Keep the reviews coming!

[@chrisconrod6265]

Just finished this last night, after reading The Regulators earlier this week and I have to say although I enjoyed both books, The Regulators was my favorite of the two.

[@stephenmorton8017]

i reckon the word we are looking for here is 'concision.'

[@brerenee9513]

This has been on my tbr for a long time but when I saw you were going to be reviewing it I had to pick it up and finished last night, just in time! 😎

[@edwinalcox1810]

Desperation was my first novel at 12 years old. Something about the bear bobble head on the cover caught my attention. I've read the book around 5 times sense. This while chopping my way through his catalogue. think I read every stephen king book my pops owned that year. Good times!

[@Steve_Stowers]

It's been a long time since I've read it, and I don't remember many of the details, but I do remember liking it quite a bit. When judged purely as horror, this is one of King's books that worked best for me. (I remember even less about The Regulators, although I read it at least a couple of years after Desperation. I went into it with low expectations and liked it better than I thought I would, but less than Desperation.)

[@samuelblack4792]

Slow pacing or forgettable characters aren't really things that bother me all that much, and this book's premise was right up my alley. I bought the hardcover and I'm about 150 pages in so far. Update: I finally finished it (took a break to read a couple other books) and actually really liked it. You were totally right about Johnny and David being the only well developed characters, and it did drag in places, but I loved it overall.

[@mattkaupa5182]

That cold opening is hilarious

[@T-Flow79]

Desperation and The Regulators were great reads! Those two and Bag of Bones, are the books that got me back into reading again

[@truckingkaiseradventures1610]

You have inspired me to read Stephen King's books yet again. Some I have only ready once but others many times already. I have read books by many of the authors you have talked about and enjoy learning about authors to check out. Oh and highway 50 is not an interstate. It is a highway that goes across the country that many people don't use as much since they tend to use the interstates.

[@snaredman1]

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but my overall feeling of the book is more positive. Definitely one of his best openings though. I’m starting the Regulators now and it’s good so far.

[@safinan8008]

Hello 👋 happy December reading to you ❄️☃️🎄

[@molol44]

Oh wow, I havent read this book in about twenty years. Great nostalgia.

[@gutterpoprecords5595]

I absolutely loved Desperation

[@redvitaminblue]

I loved this book and its themes. It wasn't quite as profound on a re-read, but still occupies a high spot in my King hierarchy. Cynthia and Steve as a plot duo worked for me partly because the hitchhiker/driver situational bonding is a trope I'm familiar with from other stories (The Fog comes to mind), and I didn't think Cynthia was a fragile waif in Rose Madder - too naive maybe, but not emotionally fragile - so it was believable to me that she would have found herself hitching rides at some point post-Sisters. The only thing that was a negative for me is that the second act took too long. But once the mother was abducted from the theater by Collie, it was a brisk page-turner again. The Regulators on the other hand, eh -- it was just too bonkers. I mean REALLY bonkers. The only other thing that I've read by King that has comparable levels of "WTF did I just read?" is probably the Milkman stories from Skeleton Crew. And maybe Tommyknockers after the first 200 pages. Desperation and Regulators have a similar claustrophobic/trapped motif and Tak plays a role, but don't expect anything else to be familiar. Not even the characters, who are there in name only. So in other words, it might actually be a more enjoyable read for you!

[@christinapilkington8732]

I read this book when it first came out when I was working at a Walden Books. I also read The Regulators right afterward, and I remember liking both of them. But as that was about 23 years ago, I’m worried how I’ll feel when I reread them!

[@Ihavetocorrectyou]

My first King book, finished this morning! Read about 75% of it it 13 years ago and stopped. The reread was so much better! I thoroughly enjoy it, I actually liked the characters and I semi agree on the religiosity lol.

[@danblack5402]

Desperation, was the very first Stephen King book I ever read, and of course, I followed it up immediately with The Regulators. I absolutely loved both of these books. I don’t know which one I like better, I guess it depends on the weather. 😉 I started with Desperation because I was 16 (I think) and my brother had it, I was bored, and picked it up and it got me. I remember everything about the book. I remember everything about The Regulators, too, and I find it interesting that people say these books were “okay” or “forgettable” or “meh”. My tastes must be different because I was absolutely trapped by these books until I finished them and, again, I loved them.

[@Johanna_reads]

Religiousosity should be a word (if I spelled it right) 😁! Believable pre-teen characters in adult fiction always makes me think of King. Great review, Mike!

[@capadam1440]

Just read Desperation and thought the plot didn't land, though I enjoyed some of the character development of David and John. The Regulators in comparison, I am close to the end and it's extremely entertaining. I am glad someone else felt less positive about this one.

[@FreeLatveria]

I was really into King when I was a teenager. This and Regulators were the last two King books I bought new and I remember almost nothing about them except similar/same names between them.

[@derekvalenti9365]

I read the regulators, but then I heard somewhere that rose madder should probably be read first (because of the Cynthia character connection) so I just got done with rose madder, and am now about 1/3 of the way done with desperation…. I don’t know, I think the whole “jailbreak “ concept seems awesome, and an officer gone mad, (or possessed by TAK!) is just the right antagonist haha! I also love how King connects these characters together, first learning about Mary and Peter, and then the carvers, and how their lives intermingle! Just an awesome book so far! FYI- I did like Rose Madder too, but hey wouldn’t it have been cool if at the end (when she got rid of the old husband, and married a new one) they started getting into fights and she grew a temper, and I thought she was going to grow into a bull herself (like her last husband) and I thought she was going to kill him…. But no…. That would have been a freaking awesome ending … I don’t know why he didn’t go that route

[@danielperugini19]

I agree with you Mike, I love SK but I was really struggling to finish Desperation...not bad but man did it feel like it was about 300 pages too long

[@shanelindemanmusic2650]

I agree with you about the character work. But Desperation was a great book, some very scary sections.

[@castoffcrown]

Sorry you seem to be disappointed with this one, Mike but from what you've told us about it, I'm still super pumped to get to this in my King journey. I'm going through publication order and I've still a long way to go to catch up but I'm sure I'm gonna have fun doing so. Just want to say thank you for giving me the push to start reading Stephen King. Salem's Lot is one of my all-time favourites by any author now.

[@kingzzz6509]

I’d like to see a video where you give us the reading order of Stephen King’s books.

[@roscoe2939]

One of favorite king books

[@HereIsWisdom1318]

I remember loving this book in the beginning, but got bored with it towards the middle.

[@jctmanu]

Desperation is one of my favorite SK books and of the first ones I read. It made a huge impression on me. The atmosphere is so weird and creepy and terrifying. Also SK said he wanted to see if he could make God a character in a novel. Hence the religious stuff. Since he usually portrays Christians as fundamentalist lunatics, it was nice to get a positive believer in one of his books. I was really looking forward to this review. I guess there’s no accounting for taste 😂

[@heathermccreary8933]

I preferred The Regulators. Liked the twinner thing though with Desperation.

[@LocutusOfWarborgOneOfOne]

Desperation is great, honestly.

[@briteskin]

I really don't remember much of Desperation or Regulators other than the villain types. Black Friday got some hardcovers to replace some of my softcover King and when I reorganized my King shelves had airplane ticket stubs fall out of one of those books so not sure if my memory is bad because didn't enjoy them or they were my international flight reads at the time.

[@BioPhoenixReviews]

i remember when this book came out i was a kid and that cover use to creep me out lol but it also kept my eyes busy with seeing the 2 covers put together with the bizarre imagery.

[@alynam82]

It's been a long time since I've read either of these. I forget a LOT. I've been wanting to re-read Regulators but just can't find the time to. Desperation, yea, I want to re-read also. But no rush... I remember that beginning tho, and the big-ass cop 😳 TAK

[@angelwalker3260]

I just recently re read this too and I felt the same way, it was like reading a new book, I remembered nothing about it. As you said, it was forgettable or something lol I liked it ok tho, it was a fun read.

[@francissookraj3202]

Good review on Desperation I read this book back in 1996, and I agree with you it did have so many characters that wasn't needed. One of the characters was a over religious boy who keeping preaching, I thought that was too much. The crazy sheriff was good because you didn't know what he was going to do next- he did lot of killing, and the violence was good. Yes, at 700 pages, it could have done some with serious trimming maybe 400 pages. I often wonder if Stephen King's editor was afraid to tell him that some of his books needs some cutting - especially with his rumblings and long description about the town. Who cares? It's not necessary - get striaght to the damn story that what the readers want.

[@Momentumunboun]

I remember trying Stephen King's IT when I was a teenager. At the time, I don't know why, but I found it to be really dense and wordy, compared to authors like Dean Koontz, which I actually preferred and read voraciously! Now as an adult, I am trying Stephen King again, and honestly I really enjoy them now! Maybe it was a maturity thing, who knows, but I am glad I am able to digest his books now! I plan to add at least a couple of his books every year to my TBR.. 😊

[@Uppernorwood976]

Religiosity ….didn’t get spellchecked so it must be a real word!

[@cmmosher8035]

Religiosity is a word meaning to have the quality of religion. I recalled find Desperation and the Regulators to be an interesting experiment but neither are my favourite King book.

[@ellieeckhardt7620]

Under the dome had a shit ton of characters

[@Jaffas85]

I just finished reading this book last night and from about the 450 page point onwards it mostly just felt like a slog and I wanted it to end. I agree that cutting back on the religious themes/ references may have helped but I felt like it just took too long to get to where I wanted it to (once it got to the cinema part is when I felt it started to really drag). I haven’t read The Regulators, and after finishing Desperation, I don’t know if I particularly want to. Whilst I haven’t read all of King’s books, I’ve probably read about two thirds of his books, I would probably say that ‘Desperation’ was the least enjoyable novel of his I’ve read.

[@Michael_L_Morrison]

I remember being meh on this book, and I didn’t even finish Regulators.

[@anotherbooktubechannel]

Yeah agree this is definitely lower-mid King for me. I read it a couple times and I love the opening sequence, but the book is too long and not consistent enough. I also remember the TV mini-series they made when I was a kid starring Ron Perlman as Collie lol I ended up getting rid of my copy of this when I did a book purge a few years ago because I don't foresee myself ever revisiting it.

[@szymonlechdzieciol]

I'd say - it's my top three novels alongside Shining and Pet Cematary.

[@TheJesseGladSaget]

I read Desperation before The Regulators. The more I think about it, I think invariably, whichever one you read first will end up seeming better. I thought The Regulators was pretty weird; if I had read Regulators first, I think I would've found Desperation pretty weird. Being that as it is, I liked Desperation a lot more.

[@nsartin23]

Loved Desperation 🤙🏽

[@littleaussierippa]

I remember very little about Desperation except that it was a story that I couldn't really get into. Like several of King's post 80s works I just kind of stumbled my way through it and ended up feeling underwhelmed by it at the time. I'm re-reading King's catalogue at the moment so maybe my opinion will change this time around.

[@DrB1lly]

I just finished this and thought it was a really good book.

[@kyliebean3832]

Wow! I’m so disappointed to hear this review. You usually have such similar opinions on SK books, I’m actually nervous to reread this, lol. I read this close to when it came out, although I saved it to read on a beach vacation I took immediately after graduating high school. So I vividly remember reading this on the beach. And I absolutely loved it. I finished it on my five day trip. And I’ve always had it in my top ten SK novels. I’m currently doing a (very slow) reread in publication order and my next is The Talisman, so I have a way to go before rereading Desperation, but before I was really looking forward to it, now I’m very curious. And I did read The Regulators right after, but did not like it nearly as much. Anyway, great review as always!!! Really appreciate them and look forward to the SK reviews.

[@mikesbookreviews]

It happens sometimes. With a bibliography as large as King’s there is going to be the occasional miss. Doesn’t mean others can’t like it.

[@kyliebean3832]

@@mikesbookreviews of course! I was just wondering if on a reread I was going to like it as much as I did. The books are so different when you read them as a teenager/twenty something compared to now in my early forties and having kids. It changes my perspective (and opinion) on everything!! Some books I didn’t like as much, may have more meaning now or some I really like when I was younger, I realize they aren’t as good as I thought. That goes for all books, not just SK.

[@FloridasYesteryear]

While Desperation is not my favorite King novel. The Stand will always have that spot. I really enjoyed it. It felt more like a horror novel than his other works. But then I am used to horror as being defined by 80s slasher films like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. Desperation really gave off that vibe.

[@markolepotan]

I agree that the character work is kind of weak in this one… I absolutely only cared about John and David.. I actually didn’t mind Steve and Cynthia in the beginning but when everyone got together they somehow didn’t have chemistry as a group… Didn’t care for David’s parents at all!!! But overall I did like the book..

[@dragonflii]

I agree with this review mostly. I didn't dislike Cynthia and Steve however. I found Mary to be more boring. The religious stuff was boring. But, Tak is a great and terrifying villian. The Regulators was an easier read, but I can't come away with it saying I like one book better than the other, because they were both kind of meh. The Regulators was weird because although they share the same names, the characters are not the same. I found it difficult to keep up with everyone and when they died I would be like, who was that again? Idk both are a miss for me.

[@swisswatermethod1781]

Given the fact that The Regulators is one of the worst books by King I’d be surprised if that was the favourite of the two 😅

[@curtjarrell9710]

If it's similar to Dark Half (which I didn't enjoy) and Rose Madder (haven't read yet) I may not enjoy this one.

[@jamiemoore238]

Every single person I've ever met that read both books liked the one they read first the best... mime was desperation...also, desperation was by far my favorite king book ever.... read it in under 3 days... haven't read them all but at least 10-15 including most (all?) the well known ones... clearly you've read more books than i, so perhaps I'm wrong but IMO you're off on this take

[@claytonhomer3096]

I agree with most of the problems you have with the book. However this was the second new King book I read as a teenager after The Green Mile. So while it is a massive step down from Mile, It still had a lot of stuff I liked about the King books I had read to that point. I thought the brutal violence and the general weirdness gave a good ambiance that is similar to his other works. I thought the villain, while not huge word count, was dangerous and unpredictable. The religious stuff and some of the character work is indeed weak. It feels like a lot of other King books to me in that they are a little uneven and bloated. I would rank it mid to lower mid for King and I certainly enjoyed it more than Regulators. Can't wait to see what you think of that one next.

[@philippburnett6045]

Didn’t you already done a video in that book?

[@mikesbookreviews]

I have not. But there are other worlds than these.

[@philippburnett6045]

@@mikesbookreviews alright. And what is that suppose to mean?

[@philb7851]

Nube lol

[@karenryan490]

King does the same with politics, as he does with Religion

[@stephenmorton8017]

ha! i liked the Regulators. didn't know about this one. i got lost in the later books of the Dark Tower with all the characters. i think to myself, 'is this cocaine writing?' is this one distillation having the effect of diluting another? i love Stephen King, i want to drop some acid with him and go night hiking in the Great Dismal Swamp.

[@wendigo3140]

Could never get into this or The Regulators

[@Dylan13Collins]

I loved desperation! I reread it after the tower and I liked it, but not as much. I didn't mind the religion aspect, but there were things I didn't like this time. Regulators however, I did not like at all. It was the biggest struggle I had in all the King books I've read so far.

[@ilikecomicstoareallyproble8617]

90s Stephen King is some of the goddamn weirdest stuff I think I've ever read.

[@timkirsten6184]

I was disappointed by Desperation when I read it. The opening was awesome and there were cool moments, but I didn't enjoy a lot of it, especially the religious aspects with David. I did however love The Regulators, which seems to be an uncommon opinion.

[@brainspin7518]

Desperation was the better book.

[@lockdowntechie3122]

Its a .......... Weird book.

[@currangill430]

You never watched Last Dance? Jordan had some bad games

[@TheHoraReghin]

Desperation was...fine. Had a lot of great moments amongst really boring ones. But Regulators was just a wild mess, in my opinion. Way too out there, even by Stephen King standards.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Desperation was good but I didn't love it so I wouldn't reread this book

[@brianmelendy1194]

That book is a convoluted mess.

[@marie-helenemartel7147]

Yeah, aspects of this book are great, but the whole religious aspect was too much.

[@sapnasarfare2920]

It would be great to do some Indian literature...

[@reaper2r]

Is there any

[@sapnasarfare2920]

@@reaper2r plenty... What are your interest?