Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Revival by Stephen King

9 reviews

darkestmaterials's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical trauma, and Car accident

crystal689's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

renicula's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

I might be overrating this one, but I gotta be me and I can’t help but love it when Stephen King combines slice-of-life melodrama with The Unspeakable Horrors. Most people have reviewed this book as slow-paced, which I get given the amount of time dedicated to the minutiae of Jamie’s childhood and adolescence and how long it takes the actual horror elements to seep in, but I still couldn’t put it down. Ended up finishing the 14 hour audio book in 4 days. King has his manifold flaws, but he knows how to grab you.

That all being said, the usual King caveats still apply here. He’s Weird about race, cannot resist fatphobia, and… struggles with realistically depicting women as fully dimensional human beings, although with the first person narration (a relatively rare choice for him), some of this could charitably be attributed as characterization of Jamie.

Again, the real strength of this book is as a cosmic horror story that actually feels grounded in material reality. I’ve always struggled with finding the “horror” in Lovecraft’s work (other than the horrifying racism), where the bloodless narrators and their “you just had to be there, trust me it was sososo much scarier than anything you could imagine” narration leaves me at an alienated remove. King might occasionally *over-elaborate* his horror elements to the point of silliness, but it just works for me when it’s grounded in world that feels painfully real. The ending is one of the bleakest King’s ever written, and it provides a kind of existential horror that’s stuck with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, Racism, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism and Racial slurs

kessejeen's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

This book spans decades and reminds you that even in the present day, there is still so much we do not know. King killed it with this one. It’s a slow burn but worth the emotional and horrific payoff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gaslighting

emma_l_f44's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

imstephtacular's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War and Classism

michaelromeo's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, and Terminal illness

emilymdxn's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, and Car accident

Minor: Fatphobia and Mass/school shootings