I finished it! Rather – I finished "It." 

I am honestly not sure where to start with this review...

I guess that the first thing is: I can see why this book is a classic and still popular enough to have multiple film iterations of it. King really knows how to build atmosphere and tension. He also has excellent character development. There are times when you can really FEEL like you are in Derry.

I like that. 

Yet, he is long-winded. Perhaps VERBOSE is a more proper term for a writer who writes too much. His 1,153 page book could have been written much more succinctly and gotten to the same conclusion. He spent two pages telling the reader about the contents of Eddie's medicine cabinet and chapter after chapter telling us the life stories of random side characters.

I don't like that. 

Also, the chapters are...SO...LONG! Some chapters were nearly 100 pages!!

I don't like that, either.

Plus, he tells the story from so many points of view! From a third-person narrator, a first-person narrator (Mike Hanlon), the members of the Losers Club, adult Henry Bowers, adult Stan's wife, adult Ben's bartender, It, adult Beverly's abusive husband – and on and on. 

I might like that. 🤣

He decided it was a good idea to add a very controversial scene involving the young members of the Loser Club in the last 100 pages. 

I don't like that.

I won't go into detail about the controversy, but the information is readily available if you Google it. Just know – it was uncomfortable, and I barely skimmed those pages. Thankfully, it WAS only a few pages. 

Finally, the ending was....meh. I won't include any spoilers – that's no fun. But I will say that the story DOES have an ending – not a cliffhanger. The ending was just...meh.

I don't like that, either.

After I got to the end, I remembered that it was kind of a running joke in the film "It: Chapter Two" that Bill's novels were well-liked, but people hated the endings. I imagine that is criticism that King himself has gotten on multiple occasions, so it is funny now to look back on that knowing the ending of this book.

I like that. 

Stephen King was in that film and was one of the people who told Bill he hated the ending of one of his books. Haha.

I like that, too. 

Overall, it's (no pun intended) a good read!

FINAL VERDICT:

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ✨

4.5/5 Stars

Do I think people should read it? Yes.

Will I read it again? No. 🤣

Get your copy of "it" and read for yourself.

I woke up this morning to an eerie fog hanging over everything outside. When I stepped onto the porch and looked down our street, the fog stretched in both directions, swallowing the neighborhood whole. My first thought?

Goodness... this feels like Derry today.

I took these photos from the middle of the street, soaking in the scene. Then I turned back toward the house and spotted something that made me laugh: a sewer drainage ditch.

For just a second, I half expected to see a red balloon drifting above it... or Pennywise peering up from below.

All that thinking about Derry got me wondering about some of the places that loom so large in IT. What do the Barrens really look like? What about the Kenduskeag Stream that winds through the novel?

In my imagination, they look a little bit like this creek near my home, one of our favorite spots to fish.

Or maybe they resemble the river where I spent so much time as a kid in West Virginia, swimming, fishing, and exploring along the banks of the New River.

One of the things I love most about IT is how familiar Derry feels. Even though it's fictional, King's descriptions make it easy to connect the town to places we've all known: the creek down the road, the river from childhood, or a foggy neighborhood street that suddenly feels just a little unsettling.

And on mornings like this, it doesn't take much imagination to believe that Derry might be waiting just around the corner.

I'm plugging along in my reading of It by Stephen King. I've made it to page 686, which means I have only 466 pages left to go. In most books, that would be an entire novel. In It, it feels like I'm finally approaching the home stretch.

At times, I admit I've struggled with just how many side roads King takes along the way. Derry is a town full of stories, and he seems determined to tell every single one of them. Yet despite those detours, I'm completely immersed in this dark, fascinating world. Derry feels less like a setting and more like a living thing: a small town with a long memory and a terrible secret lurking beneath the surface.

As I get closer to the end, I find myself eager to see how all of these storylines, memories, and nightmares finally come together.

But reading the novel wasn't enough.

Like any curious traveler, I decided to venture even deeper into Derry by revisiting the film adaptations and starting the new Welcome to Derry series. I've enjoyed this little side journey so much that I thought I'd share a guide for anyone else who might be considering a trip to one of Stephen King's most infamous destinations.

What are the movies?

1. “It” - 1990 – This almost 3-hour movie is a bit of a classic. Tim Curry plays Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and he is creeeeppyyyy. He really only had about 20 minutes of screentime throughout the movie, but supposedly, his performance scared the cast so much that everyone avoided him on set. I know he scared me as a child, and clowns and I have not been friends since!
2. “It”/”It: Chapter Two” - 2017 and 2019 – This two-part movie set took the storyline to the next level with Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise performance. Yikes! He is even creepier, if such a thing is possible. Apparently, he spent three hours a day in the makeup chair for the role. He was also reportedly kept away from the child actors at first, until their first scene together. So, their fear reactions were more genuine than you might think. The timeline is a bit different in this one as well. The characters are children in the 1980s and adults in the 2010s – rather than the 1950s and 1980s.  
3. “It: Welcome to Derry” - 2025 – This is a series that is essentially a prequel to the 2017/2019 movies and features some of the main character’s parents (as children) as core characters.

Are they worth watching?

Yes – especially if you like the book. Obviously, film adaptations are always slightly different from books, and these are no exceptions. Some things, especially the more controversial parts, are left out. Some storylines are altered with some serious poetic licenses. But the core of the movies/show is in line with the book, making them worth watching.

How can they be watched?

You can use the link below to buy them (and related merchandise and other fun It-themed goodies) or you can watch them all on HBO Max (as of October 2026 anyway).

How should they be watched?

That depends on you! If you would prefer a more “chronological” order, I would say:

1. It – 1990 (since it was made first and is a standalone)
2. Welcome to Derry series – It takes place in the 1960s and is the prequel to the other two movies.
3. It – 2017
4. It: Chapter Two – 2019

If you prefer to watch them according to how much I liked them:

1. It – 1990
2. It – 2017
3. It: Chapter Two – 2019
4. It: Welcome to Derry

If you're enjoying the book, I absolutely recommend taking a side trip into Derry's on-screen adaptations. No version is a perfect recreation of King's novel, but each captures something essential about the story, its characters, and the unsettling atmosphere that makes Derry such a memorable place.

Whether you choose Tim Curry's unforgettable Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård's nightmare-inducing interpretation, or the newer stories explored in Welcome to Derry, there's plenty to discover beyond the pages.

So if you decide to visit Derry for yourself, I wish you a safe journey.

Just don't follow any paper boats into the storm drain.

And as always, travel with a curious mind. 🎈

Click the link below to buy It films and It-themed goodies.

(paid link)