Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Carrie by Stephen King

53 reviews

ed_moore's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

3.25

I read Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ as I am involved in a production of the musical in a week, and was honestly surprised how quickly events unfolded in the book. Carrie is about a 17 year old girl who is outcast in school and faces abuse from her fanatically religious mother at home, yet finds she has the power of telekinesis and uses such to get her revenge on the town that wronged her for so many years. 

The primary surprise was how early Carrie’s telekinetic powers were revealed, I was expecting this to be more of a self-discovery plot point and twist in Carrie though I am content to mention it in this review as it was more or less revealed on the first page. The ending also wasn’t left for the readers to theorise as due to fictional extracts from supposed non-fiction books written about the actions of Carrie White on prom night the ending was revealed early on and continually referenced throughout. I really didn’t enjoy the inclusion of these books within books as though aware of the story, it still very much took away from the ending and diverted from the plot, and any comments that foreshadowed were intentionally far too obvious. ‘Carrie’ was not a book written to leave the reader on edge guessing whatsoever, which really defeated its main draw within the thriller genre. 

Despite my prior knowledge of the story the narrative and writing was however still harrowing. Scenes relating to the menstrual cycle and also child and religious abuse were extremely graphic, and the final sequence of events was absolutely brutal and apocalyptic, likely written in a means to mimic the biblical ‘Judgement Day’. It was also enhanced in the graphic imaginings of such as the scenes were often repeated from multiple perspectives, which increased reader exposure to violence but also failed to add much to the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Gore, and Death of parent

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

alaskan_bull_worm's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pikkumarja's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Ensimmäinen Stephen King, jonka olen lukenut (toki myös Kingin esikoisromaani).

Kirja on ehkä eniten ahdistava ja kamala, ja on mahdotonta olla tuntematta myötätuntoa useimpia hahmoja kohtaan. Kirjan tarina on loistava kertomus ulkopuolisuudesta, julmuudesta ja välittämisen merkityksestä. Carrien äiti saa oikeasti raivon heräämään.

Kirja on oikeasti hyvä, mutta ei ehkä ominta genreä. Ja välillä kirjan muoto (sekaisin eri näkökulmia, katkelmia kirjoista ja kuulusteluista) tuntui haastavalta.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Sexual violence

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is the first Stephen King book i’ve ever read and I really enjoyed it! I think this is very well deserving of its horror classic title! 

I really liked the vivid descriptions, I could really see the scenes in my head with how they were written. I also really like Carrie as a character, i think she’s really fascinating and i’m a huge fan of books about religious trauma so this was definitely a good choice for me. 

I’m knocking one star from my rating purely for the unnecessary use of the n word, i don’t think that was needed whatsoever and i know this was written in the 70s but still, it wasn’t acceptable then and it isn’t acceptable now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

_grace_c_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.25

This book is great; it's the novel that then gave us one of the greatest authors of our time.
All 242 pages are flawless; The story is about a girl who has some supernatural powers and the journey into High schools of the 60s and the religious mindsets around that time. Her limit is reached, causing her to use her powers to seek her revenge against her bullies, and ultimately everyone in her wake. This book makes you feeling many emotions and my heart broke for the abuse and sheltered life Carrie had to endure. The flow of the book is gripping; from the story telling of the events and the snippets of interviews and articles that followed 'Prom Night'. I was sucked in from the first page and read in the in 2 sittings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lorzo's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

I love the concept of this book and I'm a huge King fan, though I read this book and really just want to hear more about Carrie's childhood and more of a buildup to the final prom night event. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury