Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Carrie by Stephen King

62 reviews

hiddenfallacies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Carrie is a landmark achievement in horror for many reasons. It's the start of King's long and celebrated career, a novel that centers around women and places their pain at the epicenter of its plot, and it created a cultural memory that endures to this day - one that empathizes with Carrie rather than demonizes her. Told over three parts that function as three long chapters, the novel tells Carrie's story in retrospect through a collection of articles, interviews, and varying point of views. Going through the past, present, and future of the ill-fated prom night, the reader gets to know Carrie and all she has endured. Above all else, this novel is a tragedy about Carrie White's last hope to become a person and the ways in which society crushed that dream.

The first of the three parts suffers the most, lacking the natural momentum and masterful framing that surrounds the prom night itself and its aftermath in the story. This fact alone is what keeps this novel from garnering five stars for me. The novel is also littered with the artifact of being King's first, lacking some of the grammatical and structural prowess he cultivated over time. It's also important to note that there's a fair bit of racism present throughout the novel, dropped in small phrases and cultural references that leave the modern reader wondering if King meant to include them to indicate moral failings of certain antagonists or the time period itself, or if he simply was ignorant of certain biases he held himself. I believe informing potential readers of this is crucial, as I was blindsided by their sporadic inclusion while reading, taking me out of the story.

Although King has published better novels, as well as worse, I believe Carrie deserves a space not only on an essential reading list for King, but for horror as a whole. It remains culturally significant and moving to this day. May Carrie White never be forgotten. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

cristina_reading24's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

amalas_bookstop'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

4.0

Even though I am way late to reading this and I have already watched he movie. This was still a really great read. It was a bit of a slow start for me, and the writing style didn’t agree with me totally. This is still a solid 4 stars. 

What a horror gruesome lesson about not treating others horribly, because you have no idea what they are going through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

My god, this poor girl didn’t stand a chance…

Carrie White is a misunderstood and abused teenage girl, who just so happens to have extraordinary powers. At school, she’s bullied and abused by her classmates. At home, she is abused and neglected by her uber-religious mother, who has spent Carrie’s entire life instilling the idea that she is sinful and evil in Carrie’s head. With the incredible power of telekinesis, just how far can Carrie be pushed before she snaps?

Honestly, this poor girl did not stand a chance. Between her mother, her classmates and her teachers, Carrie suffered horrendous physical and psychological abuse. Throughout the entire book, you just find yourself wanting to be able to help this poor, sheltered fictional character, because it reminds you that there are people in real life that suffer through this sort of abuse (you know, minus the telekinesis…). Honestly, by the end, I was cheering Carrie on. 

I did really like Sue’s character. It is all too common for kids and teens to succumb to peer pressure and do things that they don’t want to do, or they know isn’t right, but unfortunately people will do a lot to fit in. And honestly, I think that any one who says they’ve never done something they’ve regretted just because they wanted to fit in (especially in school) is lying. I loved that we saw Sue’s remorse and her attempts to make it up to Carrie. Even if her methods weren’t the best and a little misguided, her intentions were good. 

Overall, even though this was a book that covered a very tough topic, I really enjoyed it and am glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mar_p's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

alaskan_bull_worm's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

myqz's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A masterpiece of religious trauma and the violence that it yields. Most terrifying to me is the stark sign, full of certainty, self righteousness, and wrath as ever, left in the White’s yard at the book’s conclusion. All of King’s hallmarks are here from the start- this has endured fifty years for very good reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Fatphobia

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rhiannonhoward's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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: Bullying, Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs