Reviews tagging 'Death'

Firestarter by Stephen King

27 reviews

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia

epeolatrist's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia

jonssweater's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Pedophilia and Racial slurs

nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.25

A good story that's buried under too much character building (yes there is such a thing as too much). The mom is dead in the book, so I would cut her character building in half, particularly everything about her sexual struggle, which doesn't relate to anything. I would cut the villain perspectives during the chase scenes down to a paragraph or two at most and place them at the end of each chapter. I enjoyed the story, but it was so bogged down and hidden by a bunch of extra pages that just didn't need to be there.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

nishidake's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Grief

daringreader13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

setaggu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

heartshapedbooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

I've never read a book like, Firestarter, before and I absolutely loved it. The whole plot line of Andy and Charlie running from "the Shop" was eerie and exciting, and I loved how high the stakes were. The insight from all of the different character p.o.v.s made it very entertaining, yet frustrating because I just wanted to inform my favorite characters of what was going on around them. I sped through this book once I got into it, and I would definitely recommend to anyone who is into thrillers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism

traceyanderson's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

myleejmiller's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I grew up hearing all about the legends of Stephen King. The King of Horror, many call him. I was only convinced to read the first book I have picked up by him since hearing rumors over the years: Firestarter, when I saw the movie release trailers for the second adaptation. I was not disappointed by the novel. The storytelling was beautiful and vivid. The characters were deep and astonishing. Everything came together with rhyme and reason in tandem. However, despite the greatness of the story and its writing, I note a few issues within it. One being that at some points the main characters knowingly and willingly walk into danger, dreading it, when they could easily avoid it altogether. Second, this book was marked as  Science-Fantasy Horror-Thriller. I will preface this by saying I am not easily scared or excited, but this book did not feel scary or tense to me. I have read contemporary non-horror books with what felt like harsher and more gripping stakes. Third, I have to say that the end of the story is completely predictable, at least to me. I found it easy to assume which events would happen before they came to pass. Otherwise, Firestarter by Stephen King was a masterpiece. It showed his prowess in painting detailed settings and giving the readers an inside look of life through the eyes of Andy and Charlie McGee.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder