Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

105 reviews

zoe_archambault's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

throughout majority of the book it dragged and i just felt like it was so long and then by the time the huge climax was happening at the end, i was too put off and literally queasy reading it. it was harrowing and depressing under the guise of ~spoooky~ ?? still a fan of the overall premise and how it leaves off though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

xyntea'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

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

Moderate: Terminal illness and Animal cruelty

jaimc's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Animal death, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Ableism, Confinement, Terminal illness, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Child death, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Cursing, Murder, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Domestic abuse

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: Grief, Animal death, Death, and Child death

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

kowe's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Grief

westernsunshine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Cursing

Minor: Medical content and Suicidal thoughts

11black_cats's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Great book,

Spoiler

the characterisations of grieving family after the death of Gage felt very realistic and I enjoyed how Ellie's dreams acted as foreshadowing, e.g. when she said "he's got daddy's knife!" Or something along the lines of that, you immediately knew that Gage was going to come back evil - good use of dramatic irony

lovable characters that you really root for, interesting portrayal of death

Spoiler

as Oz the Gweat and Tewwible

, would recommend highly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Car accident and Medical content

Minor: Animal death

thepoieszedlife's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury