Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Das Spiel by Stephen King

15 reviews

k8lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.0

hella content warnings.
also includes necrophilia (not an option on content warnings)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

meliacartin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

this was………. a lot. this was SO much. this book took me months to get through because it is so slow and so dense but it wasn’t a book that i found myself bored by (for the most part). yes the book took forever but the pacing of the book is very reflective of jessie’s experience of being literally chained to a bed in the middle of the woods for like 28 hours. i have several criticisms of this book but the pacing isn’t one

the scene with the broken cup i had to skip because of how intense and graphic it was, same with the eclipse scene. while i understand why the cup scene was included, but it felt odd to me that the eclipse scene went into such incredible detail of the abuse that jessie endured. i think it would have been more effective had the reader been left to connect certain dots, rather that being given a play-by-play

because of how drawn out the book was, it took forever to get to what the ACTUAL plot was. for that reason, it felt really out of left field to me. i’d spent so much of the book thinking it was just going to be an escape plan that the inclusion of That One Guy didn’t make a ton of sense to me? like it did but it didn’t, i don’t know. this is a very poorly worded review lol

the end was a little meh for me. the book felt like it just kept going, trying to explain more and more and more. it would have been fine to leave certain things more open-ended or not as black-and-white

idk. for my first stephen king novel, i think this was a good choice. but i did not expect this to go the way it did at all when i first started it. i doubt anyone will read this before reading, but if they do: PLEASE heed the content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

reading__redhead's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

antireading's review against another edition

3.25

Was good but damn sometimes King cannot write women for shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Excrement, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

oprah_wimpy's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I love Stephen King. But the subject matter of this one was hard to stomach even as an avid reader of his works. PLEASE check the trigger warnings before attempting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

adutcher's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

Wow. I love King & I love horror and I love this book but god it was uncomfortable to read. I really had breathe deeply through quite a few parts of this book if not close it and walk around for a bit to manage.

I normally don't love women written by men but I'll give credit, King really did a wonderful job in this book. Jessie & the many variations of voices she hears throughout this book was so interesting and for a book with primarily one location setting it is absolutely fascinating.

I really truly love this book so much, I don't know if I'll ever be able to read it again but I LOVE it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, and Car accident

kreglow's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ajg2289's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

This was my first Stephen King novel and will be my last. He uses the word “cunt” in a really obnoxious way and he seems to be darkly fascinated by children and sexuality and exploiting them in that way. Making up horrific stories and scenarios and describing them in the most dense, pointless way. DO NOT RECOMMEND. 
The twist at the end was laughable and had nothing to do with the story prior the last 40 pages. Terrible.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

kkalicky94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hb2249's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book was overwhelming to say the least. I am usually fine when it comes to reading books with very dark themes, but this was too much for me. When I finished it, I definitely regretted reading it, but thinking on it, it certainly set new boundaries for me when it came to serious topics. If thinking about reading PLEASE read the trigger warnings before, I went into this blind and I kind of regret it. Definitely a book I will only ever read once.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Car accident

This book is forever known as the trauma book to my friends and I. DO NOT read if you have sensitivities to sexual assault, especially between adult and child. This book hits hard and it has graphic details of crimes in it. It heavily details mental trauma and mental illness in the main character.