Would you go to Joyland?

Val Mamish
3/25/17
English 12H

Would you go to Joyland?

Your friends invite you to an amusement park in the summer and you agree to go. As you arrive at the amusement park you learn that a serial killer has killed a girl on the ride all of your friends want to go on. Would you get on? In Joyland, by Stephan King, Devin Jones is a college student who gets a job at an amusement park called Joyland. He is actually in his 60s, retelling the story now.

Devon is just an average young adult who is in love with a girl named Wendy. As you continue to read the story you get a feel that Wendy is not as interested in Devon as Devon is interested in Wendy, "The heartbreaker was Wendy Keegan, and she didn't deserve me"(13). Devon puts in a lot of effort in while Wendy doesn't really care about Devon. 

Reading 53 pages of this novel I have gotten mainly a sense on Devon and the character he is. The book is however very jumpy, Devon is usually talking about Wendy and Joyland all at the same time so it gets a little confusing. I'm excited to see what is going to happen next in the book. And see if Devon encounters in the ghost of Linda Grey. 

As of now, I would recommend this book to a reader because even though I have only read 53 pages, the book is still interesting, and confusing, in a good way because you want to continue to read to see what he means when he is explaining a story in a confusing way. The mysterious theme to the book also will keep you hooked onto reading, "... and then he took her into the Horror House. They went in together, but only he came out"(36).  The story of Linda Grey, the women who were murdered at the amusement park is one the main reasons why readers will stay hooked on the book because I am guessing I will find out more about Linda Grey as the book goes on. 

If I had to recommend this book to any age group it would probably be anyone over the age of 15 because it is really a mix of mystery and romance so I feel like the majority of ages groups would be interested in the story.