Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Carrie by Stephen King

47 reviews

hiddenfallacies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Carrie is a landmark achievement in horror for many reasons. It's the start of King's long and celebrated career, a novel that centers around women and places their pain at the epicenter of its plot, and it created a cultural memory that endures to this day - one that empathizes with Carrie rather than demonizes her. Told over three parts that function as three long chapters, the novel tells Carrie's story in retrospect through a collection of articles, interviews, and varying point of views. Going through the past, present, and future of the ill-fated prom night, the reader gets to know Carrie and all she has endured. Above all else, this novel is a tragedy about Carrie White's last hope to become a person and the ways in which society crushed that dream.

The first of the three parts suffers the most, lacking the natural momentum and masterful framing that surrounds the prom night itself and its aftermath in the story. This fact alone is what keeps this novel from garnering five stars for me. The novel is also littered with the artifact of being King's first, lacking some of the grammatical and structural prowess he cultivated over time. It's also important to note that there's a fair bit of racism present throughout the novel, dropped in small phrases and cultural references that leave the modern reader wondering if King meant to include them to indicate moral failings of certain antagonists or the time period itself, or if he simply was ignorant of certain biases he held himself. I believe informing potential readers of this is crucial, as I was blindsided by their sporadic inclusion while reading, taking me out of the story.

Although King has published better novels, as well as worse, I believe Carrie deserves a space not only on an essential reading list for King, but for horror as a whole. It remains culturally significant and moving to this day. May Carrie White never be forgotten. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Self harm, Sexism, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Antisemitism, Alcohol, Cursing, Abortion, Classism, Drug use, Confinement, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy

wmelissa's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Hate crime, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, Body shaming, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Death, Toxic friendship, and Self harm

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Murder, Gore, Child abuse, and Mental illness

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

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

4.0

Even though I am way late to reading this and I have already watched he movie. This was still a really great read. It was a bit of a slow start for me, and the writing style didn’t agree with me totally. This is still a solid 4 stars. 

What a horror gruesome lesson about not treating others horribly, because you have no idea what they are going through. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

My god, this poor girl didn’t stand a chance…

Carrie White is a misunderstood and abused teenage girl, who just so happens to have extraordinary powers. At school, she’s bullied and abused by her classmates. At home, she is abused and neglected by her uber-religious mother, who has spent Carrie’s entire life instilling the idea that she is sinful and evil in Carrie’s head. With the incredible power of telekinesis, just how far can Carrie be pushed before she snaps?

Honestly, this poor girl did not stand a chance. Between her mother, her classmates and her teachers, Carrie suffered horrendous physical and psychological abuse. Throughout the entire book, you just find yourself wanting to be able to help this poor, sheltered fictional character, because it reminds you that there are people in real life that suffer through this sort of abuse (you know, minus the telekinesis…). Honestly, by the end, I was cheering Carrie on. 

I did really like Sue’s character. It is all too common for kids and teens to succumb to peer pressure and do things that they don’t want to do, or they know isn’t right, but unfortunately people will do a lot to fit in. And honestly, I think that any one who says they’ve never done something they’ve regretted just because they wanted to fit in (especially in school) is lying. I loved that we saw Sue’s remorse and her attempts to make it up to Carrie. Even if her methods weren’t the best and a little misguided, her intentions were good. 

Overall, even though this was a book that covered a very tough topic, I really enjoyed it and am glad I read it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

femtasia's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Blood, and Emotional abuse

sighclopss's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Animal death

lay_kone's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Bullying, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

blark's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

The most horrifying thing I’ve ever read. The only knock I have is the how the “stream of consciousness” sidebars are written. It totally pulled me out of the story every time. This is a masterpiece.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

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.

---

Content Warnings

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