3/5 stars, "liked it" (am I just too nice to give it two stars "it was ok"??)

Kind of feel like 2.5 stars is more appropriate.

This book, more than any of the previous in the series, made me very READY for a break from this saga when I was finished.

In the end, I kind of felt like I spent 600 pages reading slow build up to a final 20 page climax. Which is fine if that's what you want. It just takes a loooong time to get there. And, this story doesn't really feel (of course, I haven't read the future books, so I could be wrong about this) like it was necessary at all to move the larger plot along. It felt like one giant diversion that could be been avoided, or at the very lease, greatly abbreviated.

King's writing is still fun, detailed, and creative. I just felt like there was no way this book needed to be anywhere near as long as it was, and as such, I was tired of it by the end. My least favorite book in the series so far. There were about 30 pages near the end that were gripping, but the rest of the book did not feel that way.