What was the purpose of this book? Seriously? I was happy to return to Castle Rock, but there was no point to this book at all. Adult Gwendy seems so much less than the teenage version we got. And the direction her life took didn't even make a lot of sense. 

So in "Gwendy's Magic Feather" we follow 30 something year old Gwendy. Her life has taken a lot of twists since she was gifted the Button Box. One day though the Button Box reappears, and Gwendy doesn't know what it means, or for long she is supposed to take charge of it. She's also scared she may do the wrong thing since the box seems to call out to her. 

So 30 something year old Gwendy didn't feel like the Gwendy we got in the last book. I know that people change, but the changes in her (without getting into spoilers) definitely did not seem very realistic. She is more whining in this one. She also runs around acting helplessly. I still don't get how the box did what it did in this one at all. It was so confusing.

We also have a serial killer on the loose which feels a bit off to me. It's not a typical King villain to me. Probably because once again King didn't write this one. It just felt tacked on and the missing girls sub-plot was not integrated well into things at all. 

The book takes place in Castle Rock in 1999. There are some call-backs to the Dark Tower here and there. A character uses the word "palaver". Gwendy's condo is 19B. We have something with red glowing eyes skulking about. We read about past events in Castle Rock (Needful Things, Cujo, etc.). So that part was good. Other than that....eh. 

The only reason why I gave this 1 star was that the illustrations were a great add on.

The ending was lackluster to the extreme.