Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

It by Stephen King

23 reviews

ziopera's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Non mentirò dicendo che ho iniziato questo romanzo con aspettative quantomeno alte. E non mi ha decisamente deluso. Quando sentiamo “It” ci viene soprattutto in mente il clown-assassino-ammazza-bambini, che è certamente un elemento chiave del libro. Un elemento che però viene usato da King per parlarci di molto, molto altro. 

Il razzismo, con l’incendio al Punto Nero, l’omofobia, con il brutale assassinio di Adrian Mellon, certamente causato in parte dall’influenza di It, ma anche perché il romanzo si svolge a Derry una cittadina di provincia tra gli anni ‘50 e ‘80. King è incredibile a descriverci questo tipo di realtà con tutte le sue sfaccettature e l’ipocrisia dei suoi abitanti, lo fa benissimo nelLe Notti di Salem e altrettanto magistralmente in It. 
Sicuramente un’altra tematica fondamentale del romanzo è l’infanzia. Le caratterizzazioni e i rapporti fra i personaggi sono tra i migliori, forse addirittura I migliori che abbia mai letto, non scherzo. Ci si affeziona in modo rapido al club dei Perdenti, specialmente, nel mio caso, a Ben, Richie, Bill e Beverly, i miei personaggi preferiti.

It non è un romanzo totalmente perfetto: vi sono alcuni momenti leggermente noiosi, anche per una persona che ama lo stile “prolisso e descrittivo” di King, come me.
Ma credetemi, arrivate al finale. Perché, andando contro corrente, penso che il finale sia il punto più alto del libro, di un epicità lovecraftiana che ho trovato in pochi altri testi, mescolandosi con il fantasy. La ‘vera fine’ è di una tenerezza, ma allo stesso tempo di una malinconia e crudeltà pazzesca. 

“È bello […] pensare che l’infanzia ha i suoi dolci segreti.”
“Scendeva a rotta di collo su Silver, correndo per battere il diavolo.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

ardentlyandi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Came for Pennywise, stayed for The Losers Club. A heartfelt tale about childhood friends and togetherness. Slow paced but always moving forward. Each character feels real (Beverly and Stan less so) and fun to read about. I didn’t care for depictions of Beverly, and I don’t really believe the sewer scene was necessary. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Blood, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

sav_22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Gun violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Excrement, Death of parent, Alcohol, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Torture, Misogyny, Mental illness, Infidelity, Hate crime, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Body shaming, Body horror, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Medical trauma, Incest, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Cursing, and Alcoholism

deathtoy4444's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Bullying, Hate crime, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, and Stalking

bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

Stephen are you ok

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Stalking, Vomit, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Antisemitism, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Ableism, Cancer, and Islamophobia

danimacuk'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Mental illness, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racial slurs, Self harm, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Cursing, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Racism, and Medical content

auds_wright's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Ableism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

danicampbell0506's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child death, Ableism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, Antisemitism, Gore, Pedophilia, Violence, and Rape

Minor: Infertility, Self harm, and Terminal illness

nataliii's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Fatphobia, Murder, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Cancer, Vomit, and Infertility

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

1.0

Please excuse any typing errors as I am too lazy to edit
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.

Spoiler

Bill's catatonic wife is literally likened to a blow up doll at a sex store

Richie is known for doing voices and almost all of them are racist stereotypes, his go to one being the charactature of a black child like you'd see in a minstrel show. They are constantly using Stan being jewish as a punchline. It feels intentional that

Spoiler

the jewish character is the one he kills before they even get together as adults

, the female is the one who spends her whole life abused, and

Spoiler

the black character is the one King cast to stay in Derry and remain poor while the others prosper as adults

. And this isnt even the big shit like the ENTIRE CHILD SEX SCENE. With literal 11 to 12 year olds. Which King has never retracted or apologized for (from what I've seen) but only said it aged poorly cause people now are more sensitive....like its irrational to take offense to an adult writing kids having a, for lack of a better term, gang bang. And again, most of this is completely irrelevant to the plot and could have been excluded with zero detriment to the story. I will admit that if you are writing about minorities and setting it in the 50s, a certain level of bigotry is warranted. But the level to which King took it is gross and uncalled for. He could have just as easily NOT written any minority characters if this is his idea of representation. The fact that he, of his own freewill, wrote this level of offensive stereotypes, micro aggressions, bigotry and full on volatil hate and has never apologized for it, or made a statement against it, is sick. And the fact that it got through editing and publishing and is STILL being praised and rated 5 stars speaks volumes to what we are willing to let straight, cis, white men in power get away with. I can't imagine a single POC, female, or religious minority character writing the story the way King did, even in the 80s.
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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cancer, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

The whole book is a trigger warning. It is full of violence, GRAPHIC bigotry, and the sexualization of women and especially minors.