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bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, Dementia, Stalking, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
cloudbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The bad:
Simply put, it was too long. 500 pages of this could have been cut out completely and it would have been a better story. I couldn't keep all the characters in my head and I lost track of who and where and how.
For a book of over 1000 pages, it spent so long talking about anecdotes, about side characters, about unimportant scenes and in general it does not talk much about the monster. You easily spend 200 pages waiting for the monster. It's not scary. It's just annoying.
Also kids having sex in a sewer as the solution to killing the monster? No thank you. I understand why but I simply didn't like it.
The good:
The monster was terrifying when it was there. The writing is really good too but this is Stephen King. That's to be expected.
I will never touch this book again
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, and Alcohol
rtthalia's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
some_froggish_lad's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
hiddeninfantasy's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cinderrunner's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
There are some good things about this book, but the bad significantly outweigh them. This is one of the most needlessly offensive and problematic books i have ever read. The only thing horrifying about this novel is that King had the audacity to include so much needless hatred and is still being praised for it. The level of racism, sexism, pedophilia/sexualization of minors, anti semitisim, etc is FAR beyond anything that is warranted by the plot and its honestly inexcusable. If you took a shot everytime King used the N word with a hard R, you'd die of alcohol poisoning somewhere between the one third and halfway mark. King is constantly using language and scenarios that sexualize Beverly, constantly mentioning the way her 12 year old body is maturing, painting her as a (and im quoting here) "whore" from almost every chatacters POV. Shes even sexualized in her own POVs.
It is also overlong, it could have easily been 400 pages shorter than it was. It dragged on and on. It doesnt genuinely pick up or reach a true climax til around page 950 (in my edition) so like 150 pages away from the end. That's ridiculous. King is constantly overloading the book with lore building and exposition that really isnt needed past a certain point. It took me 4 months of on and off reading to finally get through this thing. Ive never taken more than a month to read a book, even dense ones like the entire Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series, in my adult life.
Most people I have seen, even those who praise this book, don't count this as a book they would ever reread. If that's not a red flag i don't know what is. I cant think of a single book, even thick and complex ones, that i loved and wouldn't pick up again.
PROS: King is a genuinely skilled writer on a technical level and the book is well crafted. There are very thoughtful and interesting themes around childhood vs adulthood, the transition between the two, and the power of faith/belief. It really could have been a gorgeous novel if he leaned more into that earlier in the book and cut down on all the unnecessary bigotry and lore building. I likely would have loved this if it was shorter and less hate filled.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
The whole book is a trigger warning. It is full of violence, GRAPHIC bigotry, and the sexualization of women and especially minors.jackyjoojoo's review against another edition
- 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
1.5
ok so the plot is good HOWEVER this book is so deeply flawed, Stephen king using the fact that he has a black character to excessively use the n slur, the 7 page orgy scene of 11 year olds, the low-key romanticisation of abuse and Stephen king's apparent inability to describe a female character without mentioning her tits.
the book is so excessively long for no reason and its obvious just how much cocaine he was on when her wrote it.
just watch the film's I promise this book is not worth it xx
4 months later -
ok so originally i rated this 2.5 stars but in retrospect that was wayyy to generous and honestly this book is literal dog shit,, just watch the films i cannot stress this enough omfg
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
izzettl's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, and Antisemitism
starlessnights's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
peachmoni's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
I would recommend this, but please be warned that there's:
- the death of a child that is quite disturbing. It's written explicitly, though not graphic in terms of blood or gore. I wasn't able to read it; I skipped those few paragraphs.
- a sex scene between a group of 11-12 year olds toward the end of the book.
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt