Reviews tagging 'Grief'

De Shining by Stephen King

39 reviews

eadrianschmitz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

<Spoiler>
At first I was like omg ok I get it, he's an alcoholic. But then the emphasis made sense. I kind of wish it had been Jack that unravelled on his own rather than the hotel's fault for possessing him. Still a wonderful read and quite different from the film! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

gard3ngoth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mangoatwar's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

The Shining is a masterpiece written by Stephen King. It perfectly depicts the horrors of human psychology and dives deep into it. The book sends you on a nail-biting, terrifying rollercoaster of emotions. The way this book is written scares you both in the short-term and in the long-term.
Example: Some parts of the book had me shaking from fear and the book instilled a slight fear of hotels into me for the long-term. I do not give this book 5 stars due to the extremely graphic content which I had trouble reading. However, besides the extremely detailed descriptions of violent acts, I love everything about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident

cranberry10088's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Murder

drewanslee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Grief

alex60517'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

roadesntoades's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Honestly anyone reading the Shining in 2024 knows the plot to some degree. They know that the hotel is possessed, that Danny has a gift, and Jack and Wendy are always doomed to fail. While this wasn’t my favorite King book I do like this over the movie. I like how it is never hidden what the endgame is, nor does it needlessly diverge from the plot for anything. Everything has a purpose, symbolism, or message to it that is really nice. It did feel sometimes like I was just muscling through it and other times it felt a little too slow but overall I liked it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide, Torture, and Suicide attempt

sfranklinwriting's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The way King moulds together paranormal, drama, and thriller thematics into this twisted and frankly (overall) sad tale of a mentally and emotionally tortured family is a shining example of just how masterful he is with weaving of the written word. His third person omniscient narration and the way he bleeds together the dialogue with the thoughts of Danny, Wendy, Jack, and everyone and everything around them ushers a sense of complete hysteria from the get-go. Soft at first (yet complete) only to truly spiral as the looming messages Danny’s getting only seem to correlate more with reality and (literally) conjure as they eventually move to being shut up in the Overlook (blizzard of their century comin’ for ‘em). Got to Part II and you could feel the absorption of the story pull you forward. It’s a hunk of text but man it is worth the read. Tells a horrible, awful story that (seems to) turn out right at the end…I plan on reading Doctor Sleep this year, so I’ll see how future adult Tony is doing and try to buckle up for that ride as well (hoping it’s at least HALF as good as this block). 

Now, not to be petty or misunderstanding of the era in which the movie version was created in, but after finishing (heck, when I was only about 30% done with) the book I had begun to realize that Kubrick did not even tell the HALF of the Torrance’s story. He gave us a round of incredible performances from Shelly DuVall (so effed up the way he got her into character but damn the parallels to Wendy Torrance are uncanny and I so wish they would have kept her hair blonde!), Danny Lloyd, and Jack Nicholson; but The Shining as a piece of cinema seems more like a hashed up re-telling of the full story King so carefully crafted. Something personal to Kubrick and soiled by his need to succumb to the humdrum of Hollywood’s (then) obsession to always have someone produce “the next cult classic.” 

In terms of today, I think this could be brought back and told in-full (very visually) through the lens of a limited mini series on one of these dang streaming platforms. Could be a very easy way to solidly connect it to a Doctor Sleep limited series as well. Alas, this would totally require very awesome writers and producers who would want to put in the time, effort, blood, sweat, tears, and fingertips into WHOLLY honoring King’s classic tale of a failing family at the wrong place at the WRONG time(s). But for the love of all that is holy, keep out all the N words! (<<< this is my only true pet peeve with Mr. Stevie King, I can’t stand it even if it is “only to make the story authentic”)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Alcohol

ammme's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Not necessarily a book I would recommend without a bunch of trigger warnings and disclaimers, but I also get why it was such an influence of horror fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, and Sexism