Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Institute by Stephen King

90 reviews

mitsyleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Torture, and Kidnapping

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

very good book!! dark but well-written and interesting worldbuilding

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs

societarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

meganemarshall's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Felt like there were lots of plot holes. Like kidnapped kids with a web search for killing parents means shitty police work. Also a sniper or an accident would take out the targets cheaper than the Institute. Who the fuck says jeepers unironcially 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Kidnapping

beefygordito's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

As an avid reader of King's classic novels, I decided to jump forward in his collection to The Institute. It's got a lot of the classic tropes of a King novel; powerful children, psychic powers, older male supporting a younger child. It's a lot like Firestarter in that way. However the book didn't leave me curious as to what was going to happen next. Most of it was highly predictable, and felt a bit like the plot of a book you'd read in middle school, but written by a master of the craft. He's a wordsmith like no other, but overall just felt a bit underwhelmed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

eyyline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Medical trauma

laughatlantis's review against another edition

I got to the point where there was a horrifying description of a seizure, and some really overwhelming fatphobia, and I thought to myself, maybe Stephen King is simply something I don’t need to return to anymore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

boywonder's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

I'll say first: I've been a King fan since I was a kid. I don’t think this is King at his finest or most gripping. The climactic action of the book is great and I sped through it. But I think a lot of this has Liberal White Dude problems in a way not all of his stuff does? It's a solid book if you're not severely upset by fictional mistreatment of children, though if you are I think you'd know to steer clear.

The bad people in this sometimes read as caricatures but we're also getting them from the pov of children, so it makes sense.

The single most effective thing in this book is the way people will hurt and kill others, even kids, and tell themselves they're somehow in the right. That reads as chillingly accurate.

Overall though it's kind of mid for King. Read Fairy Tale instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Gore and Blood

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Vomit

skysbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent