Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Institute by Stephen King

45 reviews

ajay913's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and War

booksandsnacks31's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This is my first (and probably last since I am not a horror girly) King novel. My sister bugged me for MONTHS to read this and I’m so glad I finally did. It had the perfect creepy, mysterious vibes and while it had horrific moments it didn’t feel horror or too scary to me. The characters were great, the story had me excited to keep reading, it’s so well written, and had through provoking themes that I’ll be thinking about for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

sebnia_05's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Stalking, and Alcohol

tifftastic87's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

The Institute focuses on two stories. In the first Tim Jamieson an ex cop who was let go due to a reckless decision and ends up hitch hiking to a small town in South Carolina. He decides to stay a while as both a night knocker and an unloader at the train station, and gets to know the town. In the second, Luke Ellis is a very intelligent 12-year-old boy about to attend both MIT and Emerson. But in the middle of the night he is kidnapped and taken to The Institute a place that doesn't care about his intelligence, only about his minor telekinetic ability. All the kids here are used and abused, but the employees have gotten a little lax. It will take everything look has to be able to escape. 

I think Stephen King really excels when he writes stories about children. His stories with adolescent teen boys are some of the most compelling and well written. The story doesn't have the normal tendency to go off the rails but is a great analysis of power and what those who have too much of it choose to do with it. Stories where "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" are where King shines the most, the absolute horror of having zero power and control in a situation reaches into some deep fear inside of us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Alcohol

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

the book was good but i would’ve chosen someone other than santino fontana to narrate it. idk i think he’s great in general but i didn’t vibe with his narration

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and War

ilmariel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mo_bees's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

bookishchaos's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Eerily similar to Stranger Things, but still a good story. About 100 pages too long tho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence

angelahargis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

pkc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I finished this in conjunction with the audiobook, reading the last 200+ pages in my physical copy and…King remains one of my favourite authors BUT this just wasn’t it for me. It felt a bit like he’d bitten off more than he could chew and the end was rushed with a resolution that could be described as shaky at best. I rated it as highly as I did because the final set piece was epic. It either needed to be expanded or drastically cut back. I can’t decide which. I will say though. The authors note at the end of my copy brought a wee tear to my eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail