jedichelsy's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
ilmariel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
jzmnz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, and Torture
bookishchaos's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Confinement
Minor: Gun violence
em_chata's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Violence, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
corikane's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Child abuse, and Murder
milliemoo207's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
- They maintained their circle until the end, and as the roof came down, Avery Dixon had one final thought, both clear and calm: I loved having friends.😐😐
but fr this book was so good i coulnt put it fown for 3 days wasnt sure at the beginnjng but i think it was because i was distracted with revision and exams WOW i love this book
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Child death
mecmccann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Torture, and Child abuse
Moderate: Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
secre's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
The novel opens with Tim Jamieson taking a chance and hitch hiking after losing his job as a police officer, only to find himself in the small town of DuPray. His journey stalls and he takes on the job of Night Knocker for the small little town. For a while I wondered what this had to do with the main plot, but before too long we switch to Luke, a genius child with a small parlour trick gift for telekenesis. That small gift however is enough to get him noticed and he's kidnapped in the middle of the night, his parents killed. He finds himself in the Institute, with a handful of other kids with similar powers. Those in the Front Half endure tests and shots, but they all know it's better than what happens in the Back Half. Yet it is the Back Half that they are all destined for in fairly short order.
This is a book that has taken me a long time to read, despite being relatively short for a King novel - just shy of 600 pages instead of well over a thousand. A lot of the horror is in the nitty gritty details of the children's lives. The tests and abuses and humiliations heaped upon them, even as those who behave earn tokens and those who don't endure punishments. The Institute itself is brought to life with it's bleakness and often petty cruelty. It's a slow build, where the tension is built throughout the novel as the cruelties ramp up and the stakes - always high - become more visible and tangible.
It's fairly tame for a King novel, yet it's disturbing in a creepy, realistic way rather than body horror and massacres. It's more of a YA novel than some other King novels I've read, yet it's also horrifying on a psychological level. He brings the tortures and abuses to live, even as the adults perpetrating the horror continue to justify their actions all the way to the very end.
All in all, a solid success for King here and one that reminds me how much I enjoy some - if not all - of his work.
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Suicide
Minor: Terminal illness
jurassicspark's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Trafficking, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Torture, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol and Blood