Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Outsider by Stephen King

65 reviews

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

ultravioletrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

wafeeliz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

TOUGH read in the first half... Between repeated descriptions of a horrifically graphic, violent crime and a mountain of exposition, I can understand why Stephen King may not be everyone's speed. That being said, the second half of the novel did go by quickly. Personally, the unveiling of The Outsider as a supernatural entity wasn't much of a revelation as the seed for a venture outside of the bounds of reality had already been sown.

I can acknowledge old Steve's strengths as a writer, I really can. Here: I enjoyed his unconventional metaphors, descriptions, and narrative integration of character thoughts. He really knows how to build a world and flesh out characters and their relationships. I've heard he is a pretty successful guy, so good for him! We won't dwell too much on the considerable amount of typos, erroneous use of various words and phrases, and casual 80s racism in this novel.

This book was lovingly gifted to me and I AM glad that I read something outside of my comfort zone. Hell, I might even watch the miniseries if I can stomach the visuals. How wonderful that Mr. King was inspired by my culture's folklore <3 This section does NOT resemble a message my kidnappers would have made me send to reassure my loved ones that I am safe.

What I WILL say: Holly Gibney you have captured my heart! And the scent of a new book?? NOTHING COULD EVER SURPASS THE SENSATION OF PURE ECSTASY! (Took a good sniff just now.)

#MexicanIt #HowLatinosSpeakInMovies #LearnedANewSlur<3 #DidAnyoneCatchThatYuneSabloWasLatino?ItWasUnclearToMe

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

somebodys_fool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.25

Should have had my King bingo card ready for this one 😅

SK is a comfort author for me at this point. There were some parts of this book that would make it an immediate DNF if written by an author I'm less familiar with. The random Spanish words/phrases spoken by everyone else in the presence of the one Latino character? 🤨 "Considerable bosoms" and mild fatphobia? 🤔 Plot and setting exposition blurted out by characters in phrasing that wouldn't make sense coming from someone of that demographic? 😂

And yet, I listened along anyway. This definitely wasn't one of my favorites, I think he could have better developed the premise. But the idea of a  shapeshifting serial killer is pretty spooky, and I appreciated Holly's point towards the end that a supernatural explanation isn't any less plausible than whatever reason a human being might do something so horrible as to maim and kill a child. This did make me want to read more Holly content so I will likely be checking out the Bill Hodges trilogy next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, and Alcohol

c4rn4ge's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

jessicaapenny21's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Murder

witchleaves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

loudonuts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

without a doubt, THE OUTSIDER is my favourite stephen king book. so many elements of this story kept me on the edge of my seat, and just when i thought it might be over, it got worse. the story was fast-paced, but not enough that you feel like you can’t connect with any of the characters (holly is now one of my favourite women in literature). even though it does peter out slightly towards the end, the suspense and horror in this book is impressively immersive. i highly recommend you go into it as blind as possible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Grief

crbowman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse