Link: amzn.to/wc3seE

Grade: C-

L/C Ratio: 20/80
(This means I estimate the author devoted 20% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 80% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.) 

Thematic Breakdown:
50% - Sappy love story
25% - Time travel
15% - Cultural inspection
10% - US history

I want to make it clear up front that I am a Stephen King novice. Prior to 11/22/63, the only work of his I had read was 2010’s Under the Dome (which I can’t recommend) and a few excerpts from On Writing.

King’s new novel is a big book. It comprises over 800 pages in paper form and over 13,000 locations on the Kindle. I’m not morally opposed to long texts, but in this case, the novel’s plot is not worthy of the length.

As you can see from the thematic breakdown above, I estimate that 50% of the book is spent on a romantic arc. Despite all the time King devotes to the love story, he never delivers a believable relationship (and the corniness will elicit one groan per page). The cheesy romance kills the momentum of the alternative history premise, and the repetitive scenes where the main character stalks a relatively dull Lee Harvey Oswald only add to the book’s problems.

Like a lot of time traveling literature, 11/22/63 requires some clunky exposition to get situated. Sadly, for fans of King (and fans of JFK too, I guess) that setup is the only compelling part of the novel.