Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Insomnia by Stephen King

8 reviews

lugosi147's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

For a Stephen King book that is a Dark Tower book in all but name, it’s shockingly diverse, and the amount of inappropriate boners and sexual moments is under 10 (popping a boner at the nice neighbour giving you a hug is about as bad as it gets) which for a King book? That’s a miracle in itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

-Does the dog die? Yes. -No sexual assault or sex scenes, erections are described -Abortion is the centre of the story, from the view point of a 70 year old man. He never expresses an opinion but wishes everyone wouldn’t “be so shrill” about it. Narrative leans towards pro-choice, but is very nuanced with the different discussions characters have about the subject. This was published the same year (1993) that Maine (King’s state) passed a law that legalised abortions.

elekie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

emmiemopho's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. This one lacked the racism and misogyny that is prevalently found in SK’s books. It also lacked the “man explains sex/the feel of a woman” that is often found in his stories as well. This is all good news for me and I allowed me to thoroughly enjoy the story without being annoying towards Stephen. Here are my notes from during the read:  “Whoremaster” -was his go-to in Bag of Bones too. 

The name “Mike”  *might* be Stephen’s go to name for himself. Too soon to know if this is a repeat for him. 

Didn’t get cringed out until page 358. The book was going really well. Why does a conversation with his best friend have to get him horny??? 

Pg. 741 “ Ralph stuck the sneaker into back pocket and shook his head.” Is his back pocket big enough for that? That’s kind of an odd idea even to have a shoe in your pocket? 

Enjoyed SK for including his start and end date for writing the book. 3 years to write. ~1 year to publish. 

Overall this book was a good read. The story was interesting and as a reader was constantly wanting Ralph to stay in the long timers world just to continue to see everything hidden. It was neat. Recommend the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Self harm, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

This revolves around abortion causes and pro-lifers.

maclunkeyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-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? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very long, very dense, and very conceptual story. I found myself wishing it would just be over at times, but it always managed to pull me back in and keep me invested. 

The emotional aspects of this book hit me pretty hard, and I found the story of Ralph and the other old-timers very unique and interesting. The ending was beautiful, and definitely touched my heart (especially that

handshake between Ralph and Clotho/Lachesis

. Ralph reflecting on

Carolyn's death in the hospital

ruined me; the line about his metaphors falling away and the inability to explain his deep grief was very raw and painful to read. 

The themes of this book felt unique and well explored. Abortion rights and the fighting between 'Pro-Choicers' and 'Pro-Lifers' is, sadly, still relevant today. Abortion was used as a metaphor a few times during the plot, and felt appropriate and well used. I felt King did well exploring both sides of the issue in a fair and even manner.

The imagery of the auras was beatiful and well done, and built a wonderful and unique backdrop for the story. Big fan of Derry as the setting as well, and the small references to IT and even Pet Semetary.

This book is great, but I feel it should really only be read by people also reading the Dark Tower series. It seemed a little complicated and maybe baseless without prior knowledge of the universe. I read this book years ago, before starting the Dark Tower series. The stakes felt low during that read through, and the climax wasn't really that satisfying. This time around, I felt differently.

Spoilers for the Dark Tower series:

I think the book does a great job explaining the purpose of the Dark Tower, and I'm excited to see how the ending of Insomnia impacts Roland and his ka-tet. There is some fantastic worldbuilding present in Insomnia, and I feel that I understand a lot of complex moving parts in the backdrop of King's universe now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Infertility

lavendercayde's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, and Torture

julienicole1106's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

elisweets's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book took me on a damn roller coaster ride, that’s for sure, but I loved every minute of it. I loved the little details that connected this book to IT and added more depth to one of my favorite Stephen King stories. There’s a whole other world… many of them in fact… but they're especially active in Derry, Maine.
This is one of Mr. King’s stories that I think has a perfect ending and it had me bawling my eyes out at almost midnight. The one thing I will say is

Bill, my favorite character, deserved better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

smithreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Abortion

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol