Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

148 reviews

alanareads747's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jinnsan's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Car accident

arellareads's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I like Stephen King books because his literary style is so dependable, and this one is no exception — full of descriptive language and symbolism, insights into the human psyche, and an ever-growing tension that’s rooted in quality rather than cheap thrills.

“Pet Sematary” is powerful because of the overarching themes of grief and its toll on family relationships. King has an exceptional way of merging horror with deep psychological and philosophical questions. Although the surface elements are dark and gore-y, the naivety and curiosity of children when confronted with death is so realistic, and so are the hardships that the family has to endure. 

Part one is a bit slow, but part two has some of the most poignant and bone-chilling writing. King’s recurrent personification of death through “Oz the Gweat and Tewwible” and the physiological turmoil and hysteria of human grief is so visceral and so raw.

The only thing that holds this book back is some of the off-putting language and appropriation. In part one, the women feel like they exist as plot devices; this does get remedied toward part two as we see more of Ellie, and especially Rachel, who actually has a backstory and intrinsic motivators. 

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of “othering” toward different races and cultures. The supernatural elements of this book are built on Indigenous Micmac folklore, twisting a sacred burial site into a place of evil, while the townsfolk often talk about the Natives as un-human. King builds his story on Indigenous lore, but doesn’t properly address or resolve these issues in the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

chelseachips's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Ableism and Chronic illness

Minor: Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

grass_12's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

gbbywtsn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

aishwaryajaipuriar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

I was genuinely scared of turning pages of this book. By the time I reached the climax of the book, my head was already spinning because even though you know what is going to happen, you’re not prepared for any of it. 

It’s going to take me a while to get out of this fog that the book has left me with. I completely get why Stephen King also calls this book the most scariest one he’s written. Read it for the build up that this book has in terms of the characters and the plot, because the moment you’re certain about the world that the characters are living in, you’re suddenly thrust into a new world and side of each of them. As much as I wanted to quickly get to the end, I was too much of a chicken to actually turn the pages that quickly.

“The lack of communication gives an indication that your attempts have been thwarted by Mr. King's sinister prose” - my sister messaged me that the moment I told her I’m scared to finish this book now, and now that I’m done reading, I can see the effects of this in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Grief, and Death of parent

gizley0420's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

narsere's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Cannibalism

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Stephen King said that this is his darkest novel, in his opinion. And he's right, probably? An upsetting concept and a somewhat obscene execution.

Coming back wrong is an interesting premise, but I just didn't like this version. Partially because there's a toddler involved, partially because I didn't like the story in general. idk. King has some fetishes, and I'm tired of hearing about them maybe?

I don't feel like there's much original I can say about this. Like, I'm not put off King books now, but maybe I'll read reviews first?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Suicide