Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Green Mile: The Complete Serial Novel by Stephen King

20 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This might be my favorite Stephen King to-date. Holly has been one of my favorite characters of his, but John Coffey is a close second. What I like most about them is the duality of their extreme vulnerability and great inner strength. I think the people who meet them, befriend them, love them, that these people are forever changed for having known them. That's the kind of legacy I would want to leave, and so I love these characters. I'm only sorry Coffey had to die in this one (not a spoiler - it's a story taking place on death row!).

There was one moment that made me laugh with amusement. I forget where it was in the book, but Paul reflects how it was 81 degrees in October and still so hot and whether to take it as an indication of end times. The book was written in 1996 and chronicles his life events from 1932 to 1996. I wonder what Paul would think of the weather today. It's the end of October, and in Houston, the weather is 87 degrees. LOL.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kemrick19's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lay_kone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

rat_leoo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

exeidur's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am so glad I finally read this, but I don't think I ever want to again. I saw the movie fifteen years ago, which made for an interesting experience where I half-remembered some of the plot points, but was still waiting to see how the story developed. The tension in here is crazy, the mixing of past and future really adds to the story, and while it took a while to get into it, you can't really put the book down after the halfway mark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, and Sexual harassment

a_augustine12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The Green Mile was a fantastic book. However, because it’s not typically the kind of story I read, I struggled through it. The movie is practically spot on, and I will continue to watch the movie again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Sexual harassment

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Murder

gudrqa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

tifftastic87's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It feels slightly odd to give this a five start and then say it's not my favorite book by Stephen King, but here we are. I genuinely do think that the Green Mile is one of King's greatest books and it is a five star read for me on this second time around. This one always stands out to me because it is one of the rare cases for a King work where the movie holds up for me. That being said I do have some criticisms.

I really wish the only black character in the book hadn't been King's typically magical being and that we didn't have to have him be magical for his incarceration to be in question. I do like that King made some comments early on that minorities in prison are rarely given the same freedoms, or excuses, or even pardons that white people are. But some of the use of Coffey in this story is hard to hear because not only is he incredibly large, he's incredibly dim witted. He is simply a being of instinct with a deeper sense of the world than the rest of us. He is almost childlike in some aspects, being afraid of the dark, not being able to tie his shoes etc. It is uncomfortable at times to hear it that way. 

The other thing is that listening to it as an adult versus reading it as a teen I really wanted Paul to stand up to Brad a bit more. There never was any consequences for him and that just didn't sit right with me. But then, rarely are there consequences in life. 

Criticisms out of the way, the episodic writing really made the whole feel of the book different than most other King books. Usually we sit with the main character for half to two-thirds of the story before anything really happens and we just get to know them. But with an episodic story like this, you have to get to know them organically and to me that really felt like Paul was sitting down and telling me the story of the fall of 1932 on the green mile. It felt comforting, like a story my own grandparents would have told me around a campfire. Apart from all the brutal murdering that is. 

It really felt King did some work here to make criticisms of our prison system, nepotism, and, of course, capitol punishment. There is some light commentary on how race plays into a lot of these things and I think for a book published in 1996 by an older white man, that is maybe not as common as it would be today. While the commentary was clunky and not without it's fair share of white saviourism, it was nevertheless, at least broached. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism

rmfickfack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail