Stephen King Gets Sweet: Book Review of Gwendy's Final Task

 

Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you to Fort Vancouver Regional Library for making Gwendy’s Final Task free to read and convenient to borrow by bringing the bookmobile to my school every Friday.

Stephen King and Richard Chizmar’s book, Gwendy’s Final Task, is a sweet story about a politician trying to save the world. In order for Gwendy to preserve the fate of the entire earth, she must take the button box into space. As it turns out, her entire life has been leading up to the moment in which she must save humanity from the button box.

The book jacket tells me that there were previous books about Gwendy and the button box, but I have not yet read them. What I gather from this book is that the button box is a small, magical box that can release chocolate or coins but that the recipient always pays a price. While Gwendy first encountered the box as a child, it has become a bigger and bigger threat over time. Hence, why the box has been returned to her to be disposed of. And yes, Gwendy is headed for outer space.

A sweet story by Stephen King? For those who have read a few King books, this is not out of this world. Although King’s reputation is as a horror writer, he also tends to show heart in most of his books and a tendency to root for good and condemn evil. In King’s novels, there is a definitive line between good and evil, and evil is the ultimate loser. However, in the battle, good people tend to be victims of evil. In rooting for ultimate good and showing strong, well-intentioned characters like Gwendy, Gwendy’s Final Task is not unlike King’s other books. I am not familiar with Chizmar’s work and so I cannot offer a comparison.

Would I teach Gwendy’s Final Task? The book is entertaining, but the plot is a lot simpler than other of King’s novels. In imagining a context in which I might teach this book, such as a literature class on modern horror or a creative writing class on genre writing, there are other King books that would make better examples of the genre. Gwendy, while a fun character to cheer on, is not the most complex. Overall, it is a story that has good writing and technique but it is not amazing. When I choose texts to teach, I look for epic fails and epic wins, and Gwendy’s Final Task is neither of these.

While I did enjoy reading Gwendy’s Final Task, I do not think I would teach it.

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