Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Carrie

As this was Stephen King's debut, I must say I believe that it is overhyped.

The book is fantastic in it's tension, as per King's trademark style. It also provides an interestinf emotional journey from cathartic to ultimately disturbing which was quite the evolution.

It is also quite good in it's exposition. I usually find Kings exposition rather monotonous but this time, it was quite enjoyable to read thanks to the interesting creative decision to include research and journalistic articles dispersed within the main narrative.

However, this creative decision is stuck to religiously, may it be to the books benefit or it's detriment. When it benefits, it's interesting and has quite good foreshadowing (even if it were a little on the nose). When it doesnt though, it's quite unfortunate. This is because it often repeats climactic events twice, from different perspectives yes, but to repeat twice over became a little monotonous. I would've hoped that perhaps the separate perspectives were broken up in between Carries perspective, as opposed to full narratives played through twice. This ften took away from the climactic sequences.

Disturbing, tense, and interesting, if not a little too religious in it's creative delivery. Pun not intended. 3/5

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leanneymu's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

4.5

Incredibly compelling story - I read it in two days! King does a good job of getting in the minds of teenage girls, and the horror is palpable. I could do without the outdated 1970s attitudes though, which does really jar with modern sensibilities.

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danimacuk's review against another edition

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dark sad 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? Yes

4.5

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catsy2022's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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remuslibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

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orlabutler's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

2.5

Maybe I would have enjoyed this book more if I wasn't already familiar with the story from the film but it wasn't really engaging. Also I hate the lack of chapters, this is a pet peeve of mine but in particular for this book it made it feel like it would never end.

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jaedia's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

A nice quick read and a classic for a reason, Carrie tells the legendary story of Carietta White, the daughter of a crazed fundamentalist Christian woman who is fiercely bullied at her high school and the repercussions this life has.

Only lost points because the random mid-sentence thought brackets were very off-putting, occasionally would switch scenes with absolutely no indication towards doing so, and the numerous references to racist caricatures (while yes, a result of the time period) were unnecessary and gross. I'm aware these kinds of things come up in King's early books but they very much do affect my ratings.

Otherwise, enjoyed the reading experience immensely.

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