Book Review: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

A worthy sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep revisits Danny Torrance as an adult, where he has unfortunately inherited his father’s alcoholism, but also retains his ability to “shine”. He encounters a young girl named Abra, who needs his help to fight the vampiric cult, the True Knot.

“There came a time when you realised that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.”

There’s so much I love about this book that I almost don’t know where to begin! The book opens strongly with throwbacks to the ghosts from The Shining, as we follow Danny and Wendy after their stint in the Overlook Hotel. These references to The Shining are scattered throughout the novel and I couldn’t help but revel in each of these moments. Doctor Sleep can easily stand on its own merit, but those little tie-ins truly enhance the experience.

It’s heartbreaking to see Dan struggle with the same illness that haunted his father. But I also appreciate that Dan has his own flaws and is not presented as a purely heroic figure. The fantastic characterisation follows with the introduction of Abra - another solid King child character. This girl is an absolute badass. I LOVE HER.

Admittedly the True Knot aren’t my favourite villains... I think Rose the Hat is brilliant, but a lot of the others became interchangeable for me. Although I wouldn’t even classify this one as being scary, some parts were pretty unnerving. The baseball boy parts in particular cut me up, they’re brutal.

Incase it isn’t obvious, I truly loved this one just as much on my reread. I just loved getting to revisit Dan Torrance as an adult and he feels so true to young Danny. Even though this one is a relatively recent King, the writing style etc did feel more akin to old King for me!

Love, love, love! 5 stars.

Johann

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