Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Apt Pupil

This book is deeply disturbing and not for the weak stomached. I think the reason this book hits so hard is due to its realism. This book is about the dangerous pipeline to nazism that can occur when someone becomes a little too interested in WWII.

But I think now more than ever this book is a critical read. This shows the inner workings of a kid who starts off innocuous and his descent into extreme bigotry and how kids can be groomed into horrific ideologies. It is a short, quick read and it is the kind of thing you won’t put down until you are done. There is no relief or happy endings here. It is just one fucked up short story. Read at your own risk.

As a caution, there is vivid animal cruelty and death with a cat that is vile to read. There is an equally disturbing sexual assault sequence in a dream.

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sloan_emmi92's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I honestly don’t even know what to rate this book because how can I rate something that put me in shock after I read it? Like I sat there staring at it wondering how I was not gonna think about what I read.
Stephen King is an extremely, extremely talented author, especially because he made me visibly wanna gag throughout this book. I’ve never read anything like this, so maybe it’s just my first time reading a genuinely dark and disturbing novel. I think the thing that truly scared me about this was it was circling an event that actually happened that I’ve learned so much about and is so incredibly devastating.
I knew this book was gonna be scary but it definitely exceeded the expectations. And that ending!!!! It was so unexpected and the things that were revealed throughout the book, I never would’ve guessed.

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sappypatheticm's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

An old Nazi and a teenage sociopath forge an unlikely friendship. Partnership? The story is gross in the way violent bigotry is gross. Still, it was compelling. At one point one of the characters got bitten by an animal and I caught myself hoping he would get rabies and die.

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