4.5 stars.

It was kind of a hit and miss for me on the first half, but by the beginning of second half it started to pick up its pace. It was so painful to read—with all the Walkers going through what they have. Stephen King is inarguably good at writing stories about boyhood and their camaraderie. I was left with a lump in my throat by the last 5 pages of the book, hoping for a miracle, but of course there was inevitably none.