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jourdanicus's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I typed a bunch of other shit but then it got erased when my phone screen refreshed. Basically, Stephen is the King of plot and he's made this character-oriented reader appreciate a well-structured and executed plot. But I also love his characters. They are often archetypal, and some themes of his are often recycled, but I think he does that because it works. (Also after writing 16 million books you probably end up recycling a few things ok.)
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia and Car accident
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
ktdakotareads's review
3.5
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
But each of these four works is strong, filling me with dread through most of the narratives. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" has its darkest moments in our narrator's own doubts and rationalizing (something, btw, the film version completely fails to capture); "Rat" is a wonderfully ambiguous dig back into the writerly unconscious, a dish King serves frequently enough though it always feels a bit autobiographical.
There have been some confused reviews of "The Life of Chuck," likely by readers who skip over the 'boring talky parts' to get to the action. And since King writes this tale in a reverse chronology, such a read leaves them scratching their heads, even angry. And while I don't want to give away the meaning of the story (King kind of does on his own in the afterword), I found the conceit he creates both profound and unnerving and sentimental all at once.
The highlight of the collection for me is the title story, "If It Bleeds," where his new favorite character Holly Gibney stands on her own. Her fifth story, it is her strongest. I admired King's work with her in the Bill Hodges trilogy, though I was anxious of his moving into dangerous problematic territory; I was less excited about the novel (and her role in it) in The Outsider, but this quasi-sequel to that novel stands as a tense and genuine adventure in terror.
Most importantly for me, while each of these stories has its spirits and monsters, it's pretty clear that they are, in the end, all of us: in our brainless consumption of media, in our brainless rationalizations to hide our empathy for the suffering and horror it feeds us, and in our brainless decisions to keep doing so . . . and to ask for more.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Car accident, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
lukerik's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
senny's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexism, Suicide, and Car accident