Audiobook Review – Gwendy’s Magic Feather (Gwendy’s Button Box, Book 2) by Stephen King, Richard Chizmar (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Length: 223 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: January 21, 2020
ASIN: B07TGF6LGM
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Gwendy’s Button Box series
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Something evil has swept into the small Maine town of Castle Rock on the heels of the latest winter storm. Sheriff Norris Ridgewick and his team are desperately searching for two missing girls, but time is running out.
In Washington, DC, thirty-seven-year-old Gwendy Peterson couldn’t be more different from the self-conscious teenaged girl who once spent a summer running up Castle Rock’s Suicide Stairs. That same summer, she had been entrusted—or some might say cursed—with the extraordinary button box by Richard Farris, the mysterious stranger in the black suit. The seductive and powerful box offered Gwendy small gifts in exchange for its care and feeding until Farris eventually returned, promising the young girl she’d never see the box again.
One day, though, the button box suddenly reappears but this time, without Richard Farris to explain why, or what she’s supposed to do with it. Between this and the troubling disappearances back in Castle Rock, Gwendy decides to return home. She just might be able to help rescue the missing girls and stop a dangerous madman before he does something ghastly.”
Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Gwendy’s Button Box series. I borrowed this on audiobook from my library.
Thoughts: This was okay but not all that exciting of a story. We hear a lot of what Gwendy has done with her life in the years since the Button Box left her possession. Then, right before her flight home for the holidays, it reappears. When Gwendy gets home she finds there’s been a serious of mysterious disappearance of a couple young girls. This, on top of her mother’s cancer diagnosis, have Gwendy struggling to decide if she should make use of the box again or not.
This story was a bit boring and was less mysterious and intriguing than the first book, it was also just a bit drier in general. Yes, there is a mystery of the kidnapped girls to help drive the story but this ended up in the background and a lot more time was spent on Gwendy’s own struggles with whether or not to use the Button Box again. The majority of the story very much just follows Gwendy around on her holiday break.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was very well done.
My Summary (3/5): Overall I thought his was okay but didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the first book in the series. I think for now I am going to skip the final book in this series, the reviews for it aren’t very positive and I have a lot on my plate to read right now. I just didn’t enjoy this book enough to dedicate time to reading the third book.