Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

47 reviews

lecheeese's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A study in the hold grief can have on a person

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, and Gaslighting

shelf_devoted's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

"Maybe I did it because kids need to know that sometimes dead is better"- Jud

My first Stephen King read, deep dark slow burn of a horror book. I appreciated the way it often touched on death, grief and loss of a loved one. I loved the overall premise of this book and what it's trying to say but half way through I had to pick up an audio to help me get through this because it dragged. I got more suspense/thriller vibes until about 20% left of the book. I think this could've been 50-100 pages less and been a 4-5 star read. The audio was great but still the story was just unnecessarily too long. I am new to the horror genre don't typically read from this genre, 2/5 on the scare scale for me, more creepy spooky than anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Murder

pholcidae's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Aside from the casual racism (using outdated terms for Native American people and unnecessarily bringing people’s skin colour to attention), a near-flawless book.

The story is paced perfectly and I have been reading it nonstop. The author’s use of language to create suspense and terror is reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

This was my first King novel and I think it was the perfect one to start on! Very tense and lots of fun easter eggs in there :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and War

ee_comins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty

alixsbooktherapy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book had me needing therapy afterwards stephen king I'll see you at my next appointment, this book will have you questioning your decisions I now know why this known as his most frightening book I just wish it was more realistic like the cops would of showed up multiple times if this actually happened this book is not for the weak I buddy read this with Emily and holy I hope she's okay🤣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mickraine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Incest and War

choco_bunbun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Alcohol

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was my first King book! I don't think it'll be my last either. I was expecting it to be far more thrilling than it was. Not that there weren’t creepy or disturbing parts, but the book is more sad than scary. Honestly the scariest parts had nothing to do with the supernatural elements at all, and everything to do with the true-to-life medical events.  

 

It deals heavily with grief and death, and the ways various characters react to and process the deaths of their loved ones. I have some trauma around sudden loss, so this book resonated with me in that way. 

 

It’s a slow building book, with most of the horror action in the last 30-40 pages, but from the first inciting incident it sucked me right in and it was hard to put down. King really has a way with words and turns of phrases that I enjoyed, as well as repeating phrases and themes. I’m never going to hear that Ramones song the same way again, that’s for sure. Hey-ho, let’s freakin’ go! (Or don't. Probably better to stay put actually.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Terminal illness

svnsn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This has to have been one of the best books I've ever read. The way King built up the story and the characters leading up to the climax just makes complete sense. It wasn't an easy read, I'll say that. At times it was gut wrenchingly sad. I literally had a sinking feeling in my stomach at some points. Not many stories have been able to elicit such a reaction from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

matthewosborne's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not my favorite king, but enjoyable. The last 20 pages were quite good. You can also feel elements of his other books throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Death