Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Het

I believe reading this as a woman is a different experience from reading this as someone of the male sex. But, I suppose, you could argue that for all books, yet I think that this book really has a notable difference in experience compared to all the other books I've experienced/read/listened to.

In saying that, I am aware that it is very much a personal thing and not a problem with King and his story-telling that made it difficult for me to get through and enjoy this book (especially since I was expecting to enjoy this one in-particular).

I love King's novels and stories, but upon reading this one, I am forever disappointed in the discovery that I do not enjoy all his novels and stories. This one had a lot of upsides— definitely. But the second half of this book really drained me. I was very done with all the sexual references and activities, all the violence often associated with that sexual content and context, it really raised red flags in my head that made me feel sick and deeply disturbed, to a point where it overshadowed a lot of the good stuff in this story, for me.

Aside from my own personal perception and experience (of which I'm sure will be relevant to others who read this book), as a story it is still one I can understand why a lot of people love and find compelling. It is well written, full of vivid detail (which I found both good and bad) and a very epic story that is most certainly an intrigue to take part in.

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celleke's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

(so close to 4 stars though)

I once heard that 'IT' is peak wierd Stephen King, and boy is that true, but (mostly) in a good way. Most of the book was really good and REALLY scary, like really really creepy. I never knew I could be terrified in so many different ways. Other parts however were a little bit of a slog to get through. King kan go in to so mutch detail, sometimes it really makes the world and characters feel more real and alive, but other times it makes for paragraphs that are wayyyyy to long and get kind of boring.
The begenning was kind of hard to get into, then it got really good. Somewhere a little past the midpoint it gets a little repetitive and then towards the end it ramps up again.
I was glad I finally finished the book because it was getting a little too long, hiwever I dont regret reading 'IT' and look foreward to reading more Stephen King

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locoemsky's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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oleaceae_18's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

2.75

I would call this book outdated at best. I think the premise of the book and the monster is pretty interesting, and I can see why it's a classic. But there's too much racism and misogyny for me to actually enjoy the reading experience. The female characters are written in a way that you can tell they are written by a man, too over sexualized, traumatized, and not enough depth to them.

The weird child sex part totally turned me off the book and didn't seem necessary to include.

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zeph1337's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.5

This was a little bit of a rougher one for me. On the hand I really enjoyed everything surrounding the "Losers club", the whole friendship aspect and for lack of a better term the general "Stranger Things" vibe of this book. All this was really well done and absolutely resonated with me. I also think that all the main characters are really well done and have quite distinct voices.

On the other hand though all the harsh brutatily that is depicted in this book was not easy to read at all. And I also feel like the book is way to long and meanders about too much leading to boredom quite a lot of times which then leads to shorter reading session than I usually do or picking up a different book inbetween.

After such a long book I was really hoping for a great ending but I also got a little disappointed in that regard. It just did not land for me and then there also was that one incredibly weird and disturbing scene ...

Overall I am quite glad that I finally picked up a King book after reading The Dark Tower years ago but I don't think I'm gonna do it again for a little while.

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