Member Reviews

Stephen King: His Life, Work, and Influences is a nice compendium that really goes through not only all of the books King has released, but pulls from years and years of interviews to make a really concise and easy to follow historical record here. As someone who's been reading King since elementary school (sorry to my teachers) and is currently doing a very slow re-read, this was a great refresher and also, a nice collection of stories I've heard here and there over the past ~30 years all wrapped up and integrated into the works.

A really good reference book and a truly knowledgeable writer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – becker & mayer! | becker&mayer! kids for the eARC in exchange for review!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and most especially Bev Vincent for this eARC of the young readers edition of Stephen King.

This is a fabulous overview of the career and excellence of Stephen King. While it's targetted (very well) to a younger audience, any fan of Mr. King will benefit from this work. I strongly recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

I read King's books as they came out, and I used to make the joke that he always put out a big book during finals week. This is such a great resource, because it goes through King's books one by one with a description and anecdotes for each. There were extras, such as sections describing the fictional towns. This really felt like a fun trip down memory lane, and it made me want to give his books a reread with this as a companion. The pictures are great, too, showing the real life King with his family, movie pictures. and real places. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Was this review helpful?

This is a great book about the works of Stephen King. It's very insightful. This is a must read for any Stephen King fan. All horror fans will enjoy reading about the life, works, and influences of Stephen King. I highly recommend this book to all horror fans.

Was this review helpful?

Stephen King: His Life, Work, and Influences by Bev Vincent is a fabulous and thorough read. I learned so much about Stephen King that I didn’t know prior. I loved the pictures from throughout the years. I also enjoyed how every piece of work - from short story to 1000+ page novel - was featured. This book is targeted for a younger audience but I think it is a fantastic read for all ages.

I have posted this review on Amazon, Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6791116005

And Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_dbTIOgrQb/?igsh=YnB1bTlqZWk4MXZ3

Was this review helpful?

I have been a massive fan of Stephen King for years so I found this book very informative to learn more about him beyond his writing.

Was this review helpful?

Bev Vincent gives us a quick rundown of Stephen King’s life through the decades. Alongside photographs and pseudonyms, we get inside looks at some of his novels.

I’m a huge fan of Stephen King so I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I gobble up every tidbit I can. Vincent’s writing is straight-forward. There are plenty of side-bars with additional information from King’s philanthropy to how he is even a tour in Bangor, Maine.

The real star of this book is cover and interior designer Kim Winscher. The entire book is eye-catching and engaging. From the little hands in the book to the full color pictures to how the sections are designed. What will keep the reader engaged and intrigued to flip the page is the design of the book. Kudos to Winscher.

A Stephen King fan will love this book. It’s a reader’s own little Easter Egg.

Was this review helpful?

It will be a great book for someone interested to know more about the author and backstory of his works.

Was this review helpful?

Learning more about the famous author, SK was really fun. This book was well written, displaying information with fun and themed fonts!

Was this review helpful?

I got this book as my kids wanted to understand my fascination with Stephen King. First of all - it's a great position not only for young adults that like creepy stories but also for people wanting to understand how King became a King of horror. Graphics are incredible and all information is delivered in bite size chunks which makes it a quite fast read. Great addition to the personal library if you like Stephen King

Was this review helpful?

I am not a fan of King and really have not read many of his books. However, I have always thought he was an interesting author and the more I learn about him and some of his books, the more I really want to begin reading some. I read and watched Carrie and The Shining a long time ago and loved them. I watched Misery, Cujo, Pet Cemetary etc. and they were meh, so I think I didn't appreciate how much he had written and the variety. As I read this book, I realized there were so many other books I really want to read and go back and read rather than watch the movie.
For those not very familiar with King's complete oeuvre, such as myself, this was a great book. It covers his entire work, from short stories to novellas, poetry, and novels.

I enjoyed the interesting bits and pieces about each of his stories, the ideas behind and what inspired them, when were they written, what changes were done upon them until (and how) were they published. So I imagine students that love his work would really enjoy this book. It was easy to read, and I enjoyed the pictures and the format. I think it made it very accessible for young readers. I loved the idea of the Dollar Babies, which are movie adaptations based on his stories, whose rights have been sold for one dollar. I found some of this history of publishing really fascinating and interesting.
And I loved the layout of the book and plan to purchase a copy for our school library.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc to preview.

Was this review helpful?

Definitely a fun look into one of my favorite authors Gor a younger age group. Didn't do much for me but I can see this working for a younger version of me that was just getting into the horror genre.

Was this review helpful?

My review of Bev Vincent's 'Stephen King: His Life, Work and Influence (Young Readers' Edition)' will be published on my blog - equinoxx.info - on Monday August 19 2024. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - becker & mayer! for allowing me to read this title.

Here's what will appear in my review:

There is a very cool children's book coming out next month.

Bev Vincent, who had previously written an extensive title all about Stephen King, is set to release a book once again focusing on King, but - this time - is doing so for a younger audience.

Stephen King: His Life, Work and Influences does exactly what the title suggests. Vincent writes a brief biography on the author and then takes the reader through King's career.

As you'd expect, a lot of King's famous works are highlighted. These range from the earliest novels right through to King's modern stories.

There are tons of interesting facts for children to read alongside the detail about the author's printed work as well as the movies and TV shows which spun from them.

I loved the amount of pictures in this book. There are many I hadn't seen before. So, I suppose, it could be said this book satisfied an adult King fan as well.

I recommend the book for all. Especially the target audience because I know - without a shadow of a doubt - I would have loved this book even more had I been a young reader looking for a gateway into the world of Stephen King.

Was this review helpful?

This book is a must for all Stephen King fans. I really enjoyed that it includes real photos! You take a journey through Stephen King’s life and through his life during the books he has written and gives an explanation of what the books are about. I am a major fan of Stephen King so this was a really enjoyable read for me. This is targeted for young readers although I believe any age could read this book and enjoy it. My only complaint is that many of the book descriptions that the book gives of Stephen King’s novels include too many spoilers for those who may be interested in putting any of the novels on their TBR.

Was this review helpful?

A very thorough examination of King's journey from teacher to best-selling author. This book was an easy read, broken down into small, easy to read segments. It was inspiring to see that even an author as prolific and sucessfuly as King had to go through trials before he reached the point where he is today.

Was this review helpful?

Being a Stephen King fan, I really enjoyed this. It features a variety of images and information that cover King's entire career, providing intriguing insights into his personal life as well as background information on his works. Although this title is primarily aimed at younger readers, any fan of Stephen King would be pleased to add it to their collection.

Was this review helpful?

Stephen King by Bev Vincent is a visually lovely book that is perfect for Kings fans its short and concise chapters highlight his early to late works and film adaptations and seems to have been written by a true super fan but the contents are not really anything more than what you could find out from google, but if you are a fan of everything Stephen King it will be a nice keepsake.

Was this review helpful?

I'm on the fence about this one. On the positive side, it contains a great deal of good information about King and his work presented in an accessible and appealing way for young adults. On the negative side, many of the entries about his books are just spoiler filled summaries.

Despite its limitations, I think I would recommend this one to young readers who are just discovering King's books.

Received via NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

This was a very interesting and cool overview of Stephen King's works. I'm a pretty big King fan so it was fun to read through this. I could see myself gifting this to a young reader. I also think this is a great book to keep in schools and local libraries for others to read and find new books by King they may enjoy. I also liked the photos and artwork.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – becker & mayer!, becker&mayer! kids, and Bev Vincent for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is THE perfect Stephen King biography. While I am not the biggest fan of nonfiction or Stephen King, he is my husband's favorite writer, I have read a few of his works, and I am an educator.

My findings are that this book is perfect for research projects or King lovers. It has everything, from his life experiences to his novel influences. The novel information runs in publication order, so it was fun to see iconic titles and leans about ones I hadn't heard of before. This biography comes with fun King-world interludes and photos from childhood and significant events.

King's life and influences are so intriguing and even unbelievable at times. I didn't know about the major accident he had, and reading that and the connections to his writing and the secrets he plays into his writing after was one of the most interesting things I learned about the iconic horror writer.

A brilliant biography.

Was this review helpful?