Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

35 reviews

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

wykirsty's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This was a bit of a beast and to be honest I don't really think I took it in. Perhaps it's because of the audio narration but by the end I still didn't really feel like I had a grip of who all the characters were and that is a problem for a 17hr+ audiobook. 

I don't think the concept of an ensemble horror had really been honed at this time (before slashers became a popular genre) and the attitudes of the characters are also quite dated. Even once the action ramped up I was still lost as didn't feel like I had a sense of the characters to pin the action to. 

I'm also a bit disappointed as this is an homage to one of my favourite books, Dracula, and Dracula it is not!

I would like to try another Stephen King but perhaps one where the plot is more straightforward. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

erafact's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Cannibalism, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Set in a rural area in the 70's, lots of slurs thrown around. A man catches his wife cheating, then beats her and rapes her over the next couple (?) Weeks. Several children die. A dog is killed but not graphically, we just find its body.

risemini's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

desireewoodwhite's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

It’s not scary (which I appreciate as I get spooked easily). But it has no business being that long … the story drags for far too long, and I started to lose all interest right when the things got to the “main” parts.

 But still great autumn/vampire vibes 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Rape

scip's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism

bestrong_myfriend's review against another edition

Too slow, predictable, and some extremely disturbing content 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

augustinedreams's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a good book, but lasted way too long. Also once again Stephen King brings things into the story he doesn't have to (ie sexual assault & domestic abuse). This is a book about vampires not abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

julesfromarvs's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Eccomi qua con un’altra recensione ad un libro di Stephen King. 
Mi trovo ora ad averne letti quattro, e devo ammettere che questo è stato per me il più difficile da leggere. 
Da subito ci vengono presentati una trentina di personaggi diversi ed, essendo io abituata a fare molto affidamento sulla mia memoria visiva, ho avuto difficoltà a distinguerli uno dall’altro, proprio perché molti vengono esplorati e, soprattutto, descritti pochissimo fisicamente. 
Ogni volta che leggo la descrizione di un personaggio, nella mia testa parte un collegamento diretto ad una persona originata dalla mia mente (a volte anche ad un attore) che mi facilita l’immaginarmi l’intera scena; qui purtroppo spesso ho fatto fatica. 
Inoltre, io do moltissima importanza e attenzione allo sviluppo dei personaggi, e qui onestamente ne ho trovato poco. Sono tutti personaggi interessanti, ma che mi abbia preso veramente forse ce n’è stato solo uno, Matt, e comunque anche lui approfondito per modo di dire … sono stati più che altro molti dei suoi discorsi a farmici affezionare. 
Con questo assolutamente non voglio togliere nulla al libro e al tipo di scrittura, semplicemente è proprio un mio gusto personale, forse anche legato al fatto di aver letto, fino ad ora, una maggioranza di racconti tanto centrati sulla crescita dei personaggi. 
La trama è sicuramente interessante, le storie di vampiri catturano sempre la mia attenzione, e così è stato anche qui. Ho solo da aggiungere che forse, avendolo letto nell’anno 2023, oramai con un bagaglio “vampiresco” molto pieno, non l’ho trovata particolarmente originale, anzi, è stato tutto abbastanza prevedibile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol