Wanna know something funny? I think Gwendy’s Button Box (Book 1) found me and not the other way around. It has been out for awhile (2017 or so) and I had seen it off and on, but it was Stephen King so I expected it to be super horror, gross, and I was never in the mood for that. Then one day, I saw a list of books and this one was on it. And I said, you know what? It is short, let me see if I can read it. This thing keeps popping up like a bad penny, so maybe the universe is telling me something. Since I assumed I wouldn’t want to read it again, I got this King, Richard Chizmar, and Keith Minnion (Illustrator) novel from my library.
Now, I do not think I will read it again, but this book was not what I expected. I just might read it again. Stranger things have happened. Such as the book itself. It is a crazy thriller where, except for the ending, things are pretty tame and no real horror. Creepy, yes. Horror, no. We follow Gwendy during 10 years of her life, we see the highs and the few lows that shape her, her family, her friends and even those around her not immediately in her circle. She credits this to the magical box she was given as a child by a mysterious stranger. A box that gives magical chocolates, silver coins and can destroy the world if its keeper so wishes. And the thing is, we see Gwendy grow up, lose her innocence, find out how cruel the world can be, what direction she wants to take herself in, and even maybe have a happily ever after, but what is the lesson? What does the box want? Did things happen because of the box? Did she make things happen? Or is there something else going on?
Now, the biggest issue I had is that the POV is Gwendy’s so how reliable of a narrator is she? That, I think, is one of the points the authors were making. Things seem obvious, but what is going on? In the end it is a deceptively easy read that has layers. And as a side note, there is a connection about Jonestown in this book and another I am also currently reading. And frankly, considering the supernatural element of Gwendy’s Button Box t is a good thing I am not overly superstitious because I just might think the box has an alternative agenda.