Elevation by Stephen King, while this wasn’t what I was expecting from a book categorized as horror, it was quite a trip!
But simply thinking about the plot afterward… now that was truly terrifying!
My Thoughts on Elevation by Stephen King
This story is about a man named Scott Carey who lives in a small town and works from home as a web developer. While his work life is going great, Scott has a very difficult personal life. No matter how much he eats, he has been steadily losing weight but his body hasn’t been reflecting the weight change.
To make things even stranger, the things that he holds seem to lose their weight completely, according to the scale. This was proven when he stepped on a scale wearing a coat with the pockets filled with change, stripping, then going back on the scale to see that nothing had changed…
Scott is also struggling with two dogs who keep doing their business on his front lawn. When he confronts one of his neighbors with proof, he is thrown off by how cold she is. He soon learns that this neighbor is so icy because of the way that many townspeople are treating her and her wife, who recently moved to town to open a restaurant. Simply because the two women are married, many of the townspeople won’t step foot in their restaurant.
After hearing a nasty comment at a local diner, Scott is determined to show the ladies that not all of the townspeople are close-minded, nasty people. So he decides to go eat at the restaurant, only to learn that they are at risk of going out of business because of how the townies treat them.
Even though Scott is losing weight daily, he is still determined to help. But can he help someone who doesn’t want his help in the first place before his weight drops down to nothing?
Overall, I thought this was a decent novella that followed a nice storyline about overcoming prejudices and assumptions, and letting love win. There were many timely elements thrown in that we difficult to read, but important.
The characters were a little one-dimensional, but I thought that they were developed just enough for their roles. We had a rather stereotypical cast, but a solid cast nonetheless. We had the icy neighbor with a chip on her shoulder, the quiet and skittish neighbor that played peacekeeper, the doctor that just wanted to help, the doctor’s wife that was a bit stubborn with her mindset at first but was easily swayed, and the main character that wants to do anything he can to help others!
None of the characters were all that likable. Even at the very end I didn’t care much for any of them, but I did really enjoy seeing them grow while their relationships with one another developed.
At one point, the author mentioned a high school dance, a local band had renamed themselves “Pennywise and the Clowns.” This made me chuckle! I love when authors do little crossovers like this to their other work.
I absolutely LOVE the cover of this book! It’s so beautiful and I love the metallic and colorful holofoil that peeks out in the darkness of the night sky. Definitely one of my all time favorite covers! It was super difficult to get a photo of, but this kind of shows it:
Beware, the negatives:
This book seemed to need another round of edits… There were a number of bits that didn’t flow very well, and some instances just seemed like autocorrect issues like: “I swan, men in middle age lose all their sense.” Swan? Shouldn’t that be swear? Yikes.
All of the fat-shaming comments were a bit tiring. Many of them made sense for the story, especially at the beginning. But after a certain point I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Like, we get it, the main character looks like he is overweight. Let’s move on.
My Favorite Passages from Elevation
Not a wind, not even a high, exactly, but an elevation. A sense that you had gone beyond yourself and could go farther still.
He rose slowly from the chair, the coverlet trailing below him like the hem of a long skirt, feeling absurdly like Mary Poppins, minus the umbrella.
My Final Thoughts on Elevation
I’m glad I gave this one a read. I was hoping for more horror than sci-fi, but I still enjoyed the overall plot. Thinking about what happened to Scott is quite chilling!I would recommend giving this one a read. It would be a great book to read during a readathon because it was pretty quick and the storyline will totally suck you in while reading! And the ending is pretty lovely.
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I've reads such mixed reviews on this one. I think you did a great job at looking at both the good and the bad. I will still read it (especially since I bought the tiny little thing) but at least my expectations have went down some so maybe I won't be disappointed. Nice job!
Yeah! I think reading other reviews helped me get my expectations in check as well! I hope you enjoy the read! 🙂
The fat-shaming would drive me nuts after awhile too. Glad you liked aspects of this one!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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Great review! I love that Stephen King references his old books in his new books. I’ve read so many of them that I can usually spot the references. I think “swan” is a substitute curse word in some parts of the US? I heard it for the first time in the South, but I don’t know where it came from.
Aj @ Read All The Things!
Right?! Too funny! Oh! That's interesting!!
I was curious about this book when I started seeing and after reading the mixed reviews, I'm not sure if it's one that I would read. I do agree, the cover is fabulous.
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Oooh I have to read this. First I have to finish "The Outsider" and "Blitzball" by Barton Ludwig https://amzn.to/2xSGM6C I really like the humor in King's books. Even though they are often of the horror genre, King has a way of adding a dark humor that makes me laugh. Does Elevation have his signature humor?
The Outsider is still sitting in my upcoming TBR pile! And yes! There is a little humor. This is definitely one of his lighter books.
I'm still on the fence about this one, as I've also heard some mixed reviews. I'll probably have to read The Outsider first, in any case – that one seems to have garnered more positive opinions!
~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
Yeah, it's okay while reading, but it's definitely not his best.
Ahh this sounds good! I need to read more Stephen King books.
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The reviews do seem really mixed with this one. I do want to read it but I am not going to set my expectations too high.
Yeah… I recommend snagging it from the library if you can 🙂
I think I might have issues with the characters in this one! It wouldn't be top of my list!
Yeah, it was a struggle..
I haven't read anything by Stephen King yet. Maybe I'll pick this one up because it is so short compared to his other books.
Elle Inked @ Keep on Reading
I definitely don't think it's his best work, but it is indeed short! 🙂
I need another Stephen King this year and this being a novella I think I can read it. Let me check this out in the stores.
Gayathri @ Elgee Writes
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I need to catch up on new King books.
Same! I still have The Outsider sitting on my desk!
I was wondering about this one, so I'm glad I read your excellent review, Erica. I think I may give this one a pass, since it drives me a little nuts when a book seems to have skipped a needed edit. Thanks for the review.
Of course! 🙂
Hmm… I don't know how I would feel about the characters not really being likeable and them being a bit stereotypical and one dimensional? I'm glad it wasn't all bad though!
Yeah, it was a little difficult… I enjoyed it while reading but this one went to my donation pile immediately.
I've been having trouble getting excited about this one. At some point, I will give it a try. It helps to hear some honest reviews going into it.
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Stephen King…love/hate relationship with him. But this one sounds like I might be able to plow through since it's short. I read It last summer and it took me all summer long….I think all of his books could use some heavier editing. Glad to hear this one is short! Ha! Great review.
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Wait, a Stephen King book that isn't scary…Disappointing. But, still one I would like to read. I think they push out so many books that they forget to spell check sometimes. Ugh, the never ending Fat jokes…That gets annoying in any scope. I would still like to pick this one up tho.
Mary
Yeah it was a little off… definitely not my favorite King book. But it’s a quick read. 🙂