Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Institute by Stephen King

13 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

I feel like this is Steven King’s version of a Marvel superhero story if it were directed by Stephen Spielberg.

Fun read and l ight (as much as a story about child torture and exploitation can be), though long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

daisymoffit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't tend to go for Stephen King, as I'm not the biggest fan of gore; but l've had this on my shelf for years now, and so it was finally time. I do, however, enjoy horror and thrillers- and thankfully The Institute skewed more so in that direction instead of aimless blood and guts. Interesting premise, it makes you want to keep reading to figure out what's actually going on, and well executed as far as explaining the plot in a way that doesn't give you too much information all at once. The characters are well written and diverse, and the ending doesn't leave you too frustrated or disappointed. My only quell would be that it's a bit slow and sometimes too detailed on the "science" going on within the plot, but besides the slight bore that that brings-overall a decent, interesting horror book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.5

♡ Small Town

♡ Toxic Institute 

♡ The Kid Saves the Day

While I don’t care for a lot of Stephen Kings books, I think I might have finally found the exception.  This book was really good.  The details in this book weren’t overwhelmingly unnecessary but rather well written into the plot, the backstory and setting.  While there were a few parts I didn’t care for like the mentions of a thermometer, dude, they are children why was that necessary to write like that and then joke about later one in the book? It was just an ick about the book. 

There were more things I enjoyed about this book than things I disliked.  The plot was amazing and all of the characters were very well detailed.  It was such an entertaining read, it kept my interest the entire time.

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧💧💧💧 (4/5)

POV: Multiple, Third Person

Release Date: 01, September 2020

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dementia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Excrement, Police brutality, Car accident, and Alcohol

societarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

ajay913's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and War

sebnia_05's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Stalking, and Alcohol

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

the book was good but i would’ve chosen someone other than santino fontana to narrate it. idk i think he’s great in general but i didn’t vibe with his narration

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and War

pkc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I finished this in conjunction with the audiobook, reading the last 200+ pages in my physical copy and…King remains one of my favourite authors BUT this just wasn’t it for me. It felt a bit like he’d bitten off more than he could chew and the end was rushed with a resolution that could be described as shaky at best. I rated it as highly as I did because the final set piece was epic. It either needed to be expanded or drastically cut back. I can’t decide which. I will say though. The authors note at the end of my copy brought a wee tear to my eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mecmccann's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

A big thanks to Eric for suggesting I read this. It was quite the ride 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Stalking

annirogue's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs