Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Outsider, by Stephen King

26 reviews

princessxnicole'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: Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Blood, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, Stalking, and Mental illness

bethboo's review against another edition

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

3.0

This book wasn't bad. I found myself interested and excited to see what happened next. The outsider (main antagonist) was very interesting, but I found myself wishing that he was scarier, because I felt like the main interaction was a little lack luster. It was interesting and written well and a little oddly paced, but worked for the book. 
As always, though, I have many complaints to air. 

1. I keep expecting Stephen King's books to be scary, because they're classified as horror, but this one was a glorified cop show.
2. It seems that this was a crossover with another one of his books, because he was mentioning names and events I have no clue about. It would have been fine if it was on the side, but with Holly becoming a main character, this crossover became center stage and it was annoying bc I don't know anything about it.
3. I get that the beginning crime needed to be heinous, to set the scene, but I feel like the graphic description and the choice to SA a small child with a tree branch was unneeded. Child murder within itself, or even with the hint of SA, would cause enough outrage, but it was nasty. Just my opinion, if that matters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Pedophilia, Child death, and Rape

chloevienna's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.25

i had fun with this book, but didn’t find it to be anything incredible. the only other king i’ve read is the girl who loved tom gordon, and i thought that was far superior. this had some eerie descriptions, but nothing ever truly scared me or got under my skin like i hoped it would when i started this book. i enjoyed the characters and core ideas, but feel this had too much going on for its own good; it was somewhat convoluted and hard to follow at times. it was a fairly easy read and i enjoyed the experience, but i can’t say i’d confidently recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Animal death

lpdx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Alcoholism

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

pancaaakes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Overall I liked it! I thought it was neat that he was able to turn what could have been a very shot story into a drawn out, detailed account of everything going on. Without knowing anything about the book, I guessed that the outsider was a

Spoiler

shapeshifter

Fairly early in the book. I really liked Holly as a character, and I’m interested in reading the other book about her. Not my favorite King book so far, but it definitely wasn’t bad. Not for someone that likes long, drawn out, wild goose chase type books though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual violence, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Violence and Suicidal thoughts

kimskankwalker's review

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Death, Cancer, Child death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Body horror, Grief, Alcohol, and Terminal illness

Minor: Blood, Drug use, Animal death, Dementia, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/injury detail, Addiction, and Vomit

lukerik's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A teacher is arrested for the rape and murder of a child. We’re given pages of incontrovertible evidence that the police have the right man, but on the basis of one ambiguous sentence we know straight away that he’s innocent. Clever idea, and well executed for the most part. There’s a slight problem with the end when King just doesn’t know when to shut up. He seems to get a bit emotional about the characters. Other than that, all good. There are themes of courage and cowardice but they’re not really developed or explored and it’s all fast paced and story story story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Rape, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, Cancer, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, and Death

alexalily's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Vomit, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, and Drug use

tristemono's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Mental illness, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Dementia, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Stalking, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Violence

bl33d_0ut'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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury