Joyland by Stephen King

It's been ages since I read a Stephen King novel. When I heard about Joyland the first thing I noticed is that it was short, less 300 pages. I immediately added it to my library queue. I am a fan of Stephen King. I've enjoyed his horror novels as well as his less horror filled ones. Joyland is more magical realism kind of like the Green Mile.

Joyland is told through the eyes of Devin Jones, a college student who comes to work at Joyland during the summer of 1973. Joyland is an amusement park. Not a Disneyland or a Magic Mountain but a smaller, regional attraction. Joyland has a collection of college student, summer workers, and old time carnies. There's plenty of mystery at Joyland including the decade old murder of a young woman on the grounds.

Joyland has everything-a coming of age story, romance, heartache, mystery, humor. It was a complete package. I really enjoyed how King laid it all out. Devin's telling the story years removed so he doesn't tell everything in chronological order but sometimes he does. I loved the pacing. It felt like Dev was sitting in my living room telling me a story. I loved that feeling. I need to read more King.

Overall I loved Joyland. I would definitely read it again. Others who shared their thoughts on Joyland: Luxury Reading, Pub Writes, The Well-Read Redhead, and Good Books, Good Wine.