From the Bookshelf of Creatures, Creatures Everywhere!…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought

Some days are treasure. Not many but I think in almost every life there are a few.
The summer of '73 is like no other for Devin Jones. He takes a job at an independent amusement park, makes lifelong friendships, has his heart broken, and searches for a ghost and her killer.
Joyland is my second book in Stephen King's Hard Crime series. A beautifully written coming-of-age story that King does so well, the story was joyful, nostalgic, and simply effortless to read. I couldn't get enough of old style ...more
The summer of '73 is like no other for Devin Jones. He takes a job at an independent amusement park, makes lifelong friendships, has his heart broken, and searches for a ghost and her killer.
Joyland is my second book in Stephen King's Hard Crime series. A beautifully written coming-of-age story that King does so well, the story was joyful, nostalgic, and simply effortless to read. I couldn't get enough of old style ...more

When you're twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It's only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect you've been looking at the map upside down, and not until you're forty are you entirely sure. By the time you're sixty, take it from me, you're fucking lost.
It's a relatively simple setup - Devin Jones is a teenager working in an amusement park for the summer, stocking stalls, jocking rides, and the all-important wearing the fur (you'll find out!). But in the hands of Stephen King, ...more
It's a relatively simple setup - Devin Jones is a teenager working in an amusement park for the summer, stocking stalls, jocking rides, and the all-important wearing the fur (you'll find out!). But in the hands of Stephen King, ...more

An extra star for all the time Devon spent listening to The Doors, my favorite band as well.
This was a group for one of my book clubs (creatures, creatures everywhere). I hadn’t read it yet so I borrowed it from the library and set off to Joyland. I didn’t read what it was about before starting it. It was ok. I wouldn’t say it was King’s best but I didn’t hate it either. It was more sad than I expected. I’m glad I read this with my group and spent time at Joyland.
This was a group for one of my book clubs (creatures, creatures everywhere). I hadn’t read it yet so I borrowed it from the library and set off to Joyland. I didn’t read what it was about before starting it. It was ok. I wouldn’t say it was King’s best but I didn’t hate it either. It was more sad than I expected. I’m glad I read this with my group and spent time at Joyland.

I absolutely loved this! This is what I love about Stephen King, the character depth and development. If you are looking for a fast-paced novel, this isn’t it. If you are looking for emotion and character-depth, this is it.
Devin initially has a girlfriend Wendy, she’s a jerk who doesn’t seem to actually care about him and ends up cheating on him and dumping him. Thankfully he gets over her, eventually, it’s hard of course. He worked at a carnival for a summer job and ended up deciding to stay on ...more
Devin initially has a girlfriend Wendy, she’s a jerk who doesn’t seem to actually care about him and ends up cheating on him and dumping him. Thankfully he gets over her, eventually, it’s hard of course. He worked at a carnival for a summer job and ended up deciding to stay on ...more

May 30, 2013
Unsolved ☕︎ Mystery
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
drama,
books-i-own,
i-m-in-love-with-a-book-cover,
suspense,
mystery,
4-stars,
secrets,
2013-reads
- My Description -
Devin Jones takes what he believes will only be a summer job at a carnival.
He makes friends, learns carny lingo and hears the story of the dead girl found inside the funhouse.
- My Review -
The storyline is great, the best.
Just not enough on the horror side.
I really liked Devin. He's a sweet kid with a good heart. You'll like him too. =)
I also really liked learning how carnivals work and learning the lingo.
While I did really enjoy this story, I don't really think it read like ...more

Joyland was a bit of a departure from the usual Stephen King novel. For one thing, although it had supernatural elements to it, it was at its heart a mystery. Also, I’ve never read a Stephen King book that took place in a carnival setting, although Joyland was technically an amusement park, it still seemed more like a travelling carnival. There was a good deal of carny lingo in there at the least.
The story’s protagonist, Dev, is a college kid who had just gotten his heart broken by his college s ...more
The story’s protagonist, Dev, is a college kid who had just gotten his heart broken by his college s ...more

Having read other Stephen King books and noting that this was book is part of the Hard Case Crime books, I went into this expecting a completely different novel. I got a glimpse of the mysterious haunting of Horror House early on in the book but that faded to the background pretty quick. This was mostly a book about a boy overcoming a broken heart as a carney. The Horror House crime circles back around but later in the book than I was hoping for. I did still enjoy the book, I liked the carnival
...more

This is a book I started reading immediately after unwrapping it from its shipping package. Usually my new purchases are set aside and have to wait their turn, but with Joyland I couldn't wait to flip it open and submerge myself.
A relatively short novel for Stephen King standards, Joyland is nevertheless a great story. Yes, there are some minor flaws, which give the impression Joyland was written with haste along the way and not as much care as other novels, but I can overlook that in favor of t ...more
A relatively short novel for Stephen King standards, Joyland is nevertheless a great story. Yes, there are some minor flaws, which give the impression Joyland was written with haste along the way and not as much care as other novels, but I can overlook that in favor of t ...more

May 25, 2013
Kasia
marked it as to-read

Nov 05, 2014
Navi
marked it as to-read

Apr 21, 2016
Carrie
marked it as to-read

May 10, 2016
Porsha
marked it as to-read

Nov 15, 2016
Lorin
marked it as to-read

Jan 26, 2018
sonya marie madden
marked it as to-read

Sep 28, 2018
Denise (deesbooknook)
marked it as to-read

Dec 31, 2019
Chelsi
marked it as to-read

Dec 22, 2020
Karigan
marked it as to-read


Jun 15, 2022
Tyler Gray
marked it as unread-high