Joyland, Stephen King (2013) Book Review
“When you’re twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It’s only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect that you’ve been looking at the map upside down, and not until you’re forty are you entirely sure. By the time you’re sixty, take it from me, you’re fucking lost.”
“Life isn’t always a butcher’s game. Sometimes the prizes are real. Sometimes they’re precious.”
If you’re looking for a quick and exciting summer themed read, I highly recommend Joyland. This book will have you so wrapped up in the plot, you’ll forget what day and time it is. With a mix of horror, thrilling adventure, love, heartbreak, and learning about who you are in your 20s, Stephen King tells the perfect tale from start to finish. If only a movie production were in the works!
Set in the summer of 1973 at an amusement park in North Carolina, our protagonist Devin Jones begins his summer job as a “greenie” at Joyland. Dealing with a broken heart, he has high hopes that the new job will keep him distracted enough from his first true love. Upon his arrival, he is told about the legend of the girl that was murdered in the infamous Horror House. Why was she murdered? Who would do such a thing to an innocent girl? Was there more than just one murder?
A typical Stephen King story, there are characters that have what is called “the sight”, an intuitive ability that normal people do not inherit. With this psychic influence, the mystery is solved by not only Devin and his pals but a new friend, Mike, and Mike’s mother Annie.
I do believe that this book is full of irony. The title alone is misleading – Joyland – the amusement park that is filled with laughing children, excited families, fun first dates - the smell of popcorn, hotdogs, and cotton candy all throughout the park. Joyland also holds secrets of murder, mystery, and horror. I also think that on a deeper level, Joyland (and everything that happens inside its overbearing doors) also symbolizes ideologies of life for young adults in their 20s. It is a confusing time for most at that age as many life experiences and changes happen. Questions of how and where your life will go, questions of who you are, and the acceptance that you won’t have everything figured out… and that’s okay. The irony of Devin working a fun summer job in a place full of darkness while also trying to escape his current feelings of heartbreak and grief is written so perfectly and is read with ease.
I also found the character development was greater than expected. While there are some two-dimensional characters, Devin is one of the few three-dimensional characters. Throughout his storytelling, it feels as if the reader is his best friend, a child, or a grandchild. The book “technically” takes place over a span of about 6 months. During that time frame, Devin grows out of his naivety about people, love, and how the world works. He matures out of a heartbreak and becomes his own person as the book continues. In all sense of the word, Devin truly becomes a man.
Without spoiling the rest of the book, I will conclude that if you’ve never read a Stephen King novel, this is a great introduction into his marvelous and horrifying world. King is one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend this book if you’re craving a summer adventure with a bit of horror, thriller, and mystery entwined.
If you’re interested in uncovering this murder mystery with Devin Jones and company, you can find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Joyland-Hard-Case-Crime-Stephen/dp/1781162646
Sources Cited: King, Stephen. Joyland. Hard Case Crime, 2013.