Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Different Seasons: Four Novellas by Stephen King

4 reviews

thecatsmum's review against another edition

• 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

If you're new to Stephen King, and you ask for recommendations on what to start with, this is likely going to be one of the first you're given. 

I'm not going to tell you that this collection of four novellas are bad or should be avoided. Two are excellent, one is pretty good, and one is awful. They are all graphic and disturbing. 

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body are great and have been adapted into what are now classic films. The novellas are much more explicit than the films, so check the content warnings. The Breathing Method is a classic gothic feeling King tale. The less said about Apt Pupil the better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racial slurs, Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Homophobia, Bullying, Torture, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

kmolson29's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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: Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Rape

mixtebaby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Wow wow wow. Definitely worth the listen with the audiobook! I would’ve given this 5 stars but I couldn’t get into the second story of this collection. The writing was fabulous, I enjoyed every character I came across. Stand outs were Red, the dr in the last story, and Chris in The Body. I feel like these characters were the best I’ve read so far in my obsession with reading King. My favorite was The Shawshank Redemption, The Breathing Method, The Body. I was shaken to my core near the end of The Breathing method that is THE ONLY REASON it tops The Body. I literally stopped breathing….lol. Anyway, this book is definitely worth reading because those three are 5 star reads in my opinion. I want to give these collections a 5 star but unfortunately Apt Pupil messed it up. Maybe I’ll go back and read it one day…who knows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Suicide

sunny_not's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Some of the stories were super brutal and awful, they left me with a sense of dread while others were almost hopeful. Apt Pupil was not what I expected at all and I hated it. I hated the characters so much, it was dreadful, awful and really portrayed humanity's lows. I really liked Shawshank redemption it was a great novella and the breathing method although sad was a great one as well. Since I liked some stories I gave 3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, and Medical content