Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

74 reviews

vinett's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Cursing, and Death

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

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

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

paloma_sanchezh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Blood and Car accident

colin_s's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

 Quote:

“And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.”

Setting:

Pet Semetary takes place in the small town of Ludlow Maine. We follow Louis around the town but the majority of the story takes place primarily at his house and the house of his neighbor Jud. This allows us to get very comfortable with the setting before things start to spiral out of control.

Plot:

The majority of the plot follows Louis with the trials that come with moving his family half way across the country for a new job to a house they haven't seen yet. They quickly form a friendship with their neighbors Jud and Norma. Several events then happen that challenge Louis and family in new and hard ways as the story progresses.

Writing:

This is my second Stephen King book and boy does he know how to write great characters and dialogue. You find yourself routing for people even when you aren't sure they are doing the right thing cause you can understand why they are doing it. 

Characters:

Our main character Louis is flawed, not deeply but enough for people to connect to him. All of the characters in this novel are in fact so that helps the story feel very grounded even when the more supernatural things start to take place.

Pros:

Realistic characters

Down to earth setting

Cons:

Very quick lean into supernatural

Very rushed ending

Recommendation:

I read this book at the wrong time as it's topic was really hard to hear. However the story kept me wanting to read more. I found myself finding an excuse to go a little longer, to get a little further. I will say however that I've heard that Stephen King can't write endings and I'm starting to see that as a pattern here. The majority of the book I'd give it a 5, however the ending brings it down a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Car accident, and Death

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,

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

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

ddspirittt's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

0.25

It is the most expository, dull, and boring book I have ever read. I was thankful to avoid any and all plot points before picking this up, but it was so predictable! I got so excited to see where it would go because of that.

Then I read. And read. Read. And read. Read some more. Read. The end.

People keep recommending this as the "scariest" story by King. But if the emotional payoff or lack thereof is "scary" to some, then dear lord, go read some more. The action at the end was neither suspenseful nor emotional but laughable.

Part two could be interesting, but this was the biggest letdown and snoozefest of a book ever. I don't want to read King again because of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Murder, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, and Cursing

bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This isn't a book it's a depression machine. Jesus Christ Stephen. Incredible

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Addiction, Violence, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Infidelity

Louis says some ableist shit. You could interpret this as the author agreeing with that stuff, but since Louis is an asshole in other portions of the book too, I think it's just a symptom of the assholery.