‘Is it weird?’ he asked. ‘Being you, I mean?’
Luke considered this. ‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘Usually, it’s just life.’
Stephen King, The Institute
This is the first Stephen King novel I have ever read; the decision to request it from the library was originally a heat of the moment choice spurred on by my intense month long spiral after IT Chapter Two (2019). I wanted to read a Stephen King book but truly did not think I could survive reading IT in my state and so I opted for his newest release. I was like 76th on the waiting list, and thus have waited four months for this moment, which is a long time for expectations to build. Fortunately, my expectations were met! I enjoyed The Institute a lot-as much as you can enjoy a book where children are kidnapped and tortured.
The Institute starts off with Tim Jamieson making a cross country trip to start a new life in New York, and then switches POVs to Luke Ellis, a 12 year old child prodigy in Minnesota. Their paths cross eventually, after Luke has been kidnapped by The Institute for showing signs of superpowers. There, Luke and other children are experimented on and tortured by doctors and caretakers for a secret purpose. Despite the desperate situation, Luke and the other children form a strong bond that keeps them sane, a bond which eventually leads to a plan for escape.
The cast of characters in this novel is large, and we get POV sections for many of them. All of the main players in the plot were well written and developed, and the POV juggling was handled really well. I was never confused about whose POV we were reading, or when a switch was made. The characters were my favorite part of the novel, especially the kids. I am really fond of found families so the bonds that were created between the children made me really emotional, which made the story all the more affecting. The antagonists, while very evil, were not one dimensional but had their own personalities.
There were a lot of things in The Institute that were hard to stomach-fortunately, some of them ended up being fade to black, but even the suggestion was horrible. It got off to a slow start, but I still could not put it down. I always wanted to see what would happen next, and was desperate to know how everything would work out in the end. I am definitely more of a character reader than a plot reader, but the plot was intriguing and kept me guessing. I liked the straightforward writing style, and weirdly, Stephen King writes exactly like I thought he would. Also, in addition to being rather horrible, it was pretty funny!
Having just watched IT Chapter Two (again) hours before writing this review, I know that Stephen King notoriously struggles with endings. But I liked the end of this one, it fit the story and I even appreciated the sort of epilogue at the very end.
I had a good time with my first Stephen King novel, and now I plan to read a lot more! Maybe even get around to IT some day.
Most importantly to me, I can finally get the shirt from Monster Squad (1987) without feeling like a fraud!
I Haven't Read That Yet 
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