Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

11/22/63 by Stephen King

20 reviews

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

beardedreader's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

 Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is a refreshing twist on his usual style, blending science fiction, historical fiction, and a gritty pulp detective tone. The story follows Jake Epping as he tries to prevent the JFK assassination, and King does a great job mixing tension with a deep dive into the late 1950s & early 1960s, showcasing both its nostalgic appeal and the darker aspects like racism and sexism. Sure, at times it feels like a boomer reflecting on their childhood, but King is self-aware enough to dig deeper into those issues. The time travel elements are intriguing, but it’s the characters—especially the heartfelt love story between Jake and Sadie—that really shine. King’s detailed, sometimes wordy style works to set the time and immerse you in the era, though the use of racial slurs can feel unnecessary. Despite its size, the book never drags—it kept me hooked. This is, hands down, the best Stephen King novel I’ve read, earning a solid 4.25 stars for its emotional depth, storytelling, and tone.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Violence

caitsgreats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

At the time of release, the descriptor "romantasy" hadn't entered the set of literary genres, but I think it's apt to describe this novel. 11/22/63 is a corny time-travel romantasy with a dense background of historical fiction. And, being Stephen King, it's tonally tense and has moments of explicitly described violence. 

Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in Maine, USA, gets summoned to the back room of his favorite diner by Al, a dear friend, who shows him a portal to the past. Literally. A straight line to 1958 and back. Al is dying, and wants Jake to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jr. But that would require spending 5 years in the past just to get to that point, and still it remains unclear who really shot JFK. Was it truly the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald? Was it the CIA? Soviets? And what will the future behold, if he's successful? 

But I've buried the lede. It's a romance novel, I promise. 

What I liked:

• strong historical research
• feasibility of how the characters would have acted
• the flow of the storytelling

What I didn't like:

• failure to critically assess the downsides of the 50's and 60's
• only a peek behind the curtain of the time travel system
• the "downstream effects" of altering the past seemed farfetched in a book that was otherwise very reasonable (within its own world, of course)

When the book was written (2011), the willingness to overlook the glaring flaws of the midcentury in order to appreciate "a simpler time" was more okay than it is now, or maybe I just have a lower tolerance for it. Yes, major bad things happened to marginalized people as a part of the plot, but the character didn't seem to mind the "generic racism" that permeates his environment, for example. I prefer Kindred by Octavia Butler for getting that criticism correct.

The ease of systemic oppression is too distracting for me to really love the book. But to give the great Stephen King credit, it's the first book in a long time that I stayed up late to continue reading. Which was dumb, given that I was plagued with nightmares afterwards. But hey, I kept going back, because the book is written so compellingly. The characters are themselves. The time travel system sparks my curiosity, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time. And I'll certainly continue to pick up Stephen King novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, and Stalking

Minor: Terminal illness and War

A quick note on all the content warnings. I wouldn't say this book is horror, or even "that bad," as it were. Gore and violence was used in a realistic, but minimal way (i.e. no sugarcoating, but it was the 60's). The worst part to look out for is likely the intimate partner violence. The rest is fit for cable television.

stormfather's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.75

Great time travel book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

lqne's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mariposa517's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

t4ly0r's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

really good man. absolutely devastating

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexism

katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

clfenters's review against another edition

mysterious 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? No

3.75

I enjoyed this book because I found the premise exciting and I wanted to know how the story would play out and be resolved. I did not find the main character himself to be that interesting and felt no investment in his personal relationships, so a good chunk of the last two-thirds of the book dragged, but I really thought it was all leading to something worthwhile. I was very curious to see how the story would be resolved once the main character carried out his mission, but I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown - perhaps due to my lack of emotional connection with the main character's love interest. Overall, I rated this 3.75 because I enjoyed much of the journey, but did not get the emotional "hit" I expected at the close of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

newswoman's review against another edition

from the introduction of the love interest onwards i felt a gradual decline in my enjoyment of the book as i am not a fan of how the romance is written at all. i really liked the beginning a lot but the the main character is very hard to like in my opinion, which gets worse and worse as the story progresses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail