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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)

Before reading: I don't know much about this one but I do know a few things. I know that I have never heard anyone say anything bad about this one. I know that many people recommend this one when people ask which SK book you would let a child read. I know it has something to do with baseball. And I know that there is a pop-up version of it I hope to get my hands on. That...is all I know. Only one way to learn more.

After reading: I really loved this story. In addition to it being really good, it was also really short. In fact, I feel like it was probably the shortest King book I've read? I'm not sure why it is a novel rather than being a novella in a collection, but I'm not complaining. Because of the length, I don't have too awful much to say about it. Also, because of the length, while I did really enjoy it, it can't really make its way into my top favorites. One of my favorite things about King novels is how he builds characters and worlds, with under 200 pages that can be difficult to do. All that being said, it was still a great read and dare I call it...sweet?

First and foremost, if you are unaware, Tom Gordon is a baseball player. This book is heavy on the baseball (symbolism, motifs, all that literary stuff) and the chapters are separated by innings. I thought this was cute and a really great way to structure the story. There weren't too too many references to other King books, it is very much a standalone, but we are in Maine (mostly) and get mention of Castle Rock. The entirety of this story takes place in the woods of New England and as someone who has spent a lot of time in those woods, I found it very realistic and necessary that he talks about the bugs on just about every other page. The thought of being lost in the woods is scary enough, but being lost in the New England woods without bug spray is terrifying. Also, our main character, Trisha, gets sick in this story and...oh boy. The graphic writing and the imagery was the most intense and horrifying part for me. It was disgusting but I cannot say it was poorly written. 

While this story was short and sweet, it really started to pick up toward the end for me. It reminded me of some of King's short stories where we follow a character as they descend into madness. We start to lose the sense of reality in this story and I really loved that. What is really happening and what isn't? Was the ending even real? What's the truth here? I love stuff like that. King doesn't very often write unreliable narrators and it is known in King books that if he says something, then that is that. However, with this story, the nine year old girl who is hallucinating...might not be the most reliable narrator. I enjoyed it a lot. While I probably would have loved it even more had it been longer, I think the length was fine and it got the job done. 

One last thing before we wrap this up...I have scoured the internet and if you are an avid King reader, please come have a conversation with me because I swear this is Dark Tower related. Especially reading everything back to back like I have been...she's definitely on the Path of the Bear and following a Beam, no? Someone please talk to me about this before I go insane 😅

I don't think I really need to say it again but I guess I will, I really enjoyed this one. If you're looking for a short read, or a not-too-scary King book, or just a good book in general, I would definitely recommend you read this one. It is an entertaining quick little read that has some scares but also a lot of heart. Because I can't pass up at least one baseball pun...King knocked this one out of the park. 

Speaking of novellas in a collection...up next we have five novellas that are bound together in Hearts in Atlantis. 



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