Reviews tagging 'Violence'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

87 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense 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

3.75

I always prefer a linear timeline. So many books go back and forth, and it takes an extra measure of concentration to keep everything straight. So I liked this book right off the bat because it went from point A to point B without any back and forth in between.

I liked the relationships Ben developed along the way, though I was sorry that so many submitted to Barlow. I liked the ending, knowing that there are always going to be (fictionally, anyway) people who take up the mantle to wage war against evil on my behalf.

That said, I wish evil hadn't been personified by an Eastern European. Felt like a metaphor for the chaos brought on by xenophobia (i.e., "They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats." - if you haven't heard this one, Google this quote and it should be self-evident.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aidansr's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

valkyriecain82's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Blood

Minor: Vomit

realhousewifeofthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

A bit of a slow start, but once it got going I was locked in. A classic for a reason! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, and Violence

iamother's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

After reading this book, I came away with a mixed bag. I liked how this is a different interpretation of how vampires are portrayed and his usage of the setting in the plot. Where it struggled was in its character development. I liked King’s interpretation of vampires. Vampires that seemed to have different motivations for being what they were. The outward terrifying appearance represented the inward turmoil that they endured. This was the one bright spot in the character development because some became vampires in effect to right a perceived grievance, whether it was legitimate or entirely in their own heads. Also how the setting of a small town played a role in how the vampire was able to manipulate people and grow his flock. Those that remained in the town faced dwindling prospects, harmful relationships, and self sabotage from internal pressures. Not fighting and being overwhelmed by the vampire was their way of choosing the best worst option. Almost like they were giving up and choosing numbness. I felt like King missed the chance to really hone in on these themes if he focused on fewer characters. He had so many of them that some of them felt like afterthoughts with plots left hanging unfinished. Because so little time was devoted to them, I didn’t feel much of anything when they faced peril. Nor did I believe that the decisions these minor characters made either way would impact the plot. So why include it? This prevented the main storyline from having the heft necessary because of the constant breaks. Much of the inner dialogue and struggles of these main characters felt like it happened off screen. To me, the story felt like it was giving insight into the lifestyle of small town neighborhoods. How difficult it is to have the courage to leave or the strength to stay. Knowing when to let go when something does more harm than good and how inability to recognize this can leave you lingering in the shadows of your decaying life like a proverbial vampire. The horror aspects were also a lot more muted than what I was anticipating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This was such a slog to get through and had wayyy too many characters for me to care about more than 2 (if even that). 

I’m counting the fact that I finished this book as a win because I was close to giving up a few times. Thank goodness for audiobooks and the ability to speed them up otherwise all hope would have been lost! This definitely served some eerie atmosphere, and was kind of enjoyable in the end.

Now that I’m somewhat familiar with King’s writing style, I can tamper my expectations with anything else I might pick up from him. 

p.s. Why do your chapters have to be SOO long??!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal death

booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

jexjthomas's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, and Car accident

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy

read_bransdon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Torture