Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

22 reviews

fakespy87's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I could write at length how the baby talk and pretend language in this book annoyed the hell out of me. Seriously, words like “smucking” (Lisey and Scott’s substitute for fuck) were on nearly every page. And how Scott reverting to childlike language was a poor attempt at showing a man who had experienced childhood trauma. I could say a great deal about all of this but the biggest sin this book commits is simply being boring. It was 200 pages too long and it is the first King book where I cared about none of the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Cursing

saida_mc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Mental illness, Blood, Child death, and Child abuse

romireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Child abuse, and Body horror

cinn48's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, and Mental illness

lissaslibraryxo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Magnum opus. Spent a month eeking out this elaborately imagined, fiercely crafted, really fucking scary masterpiece. Scott Landon is an unforgettable character. Lisey, too, is iconic. The long boy is a fearsome invention. Reads like a literary novel as well as a fantasy/horror - stunning descriptions of Boo'ya Moon and I love Scott and Lisey's interior language. Bask in this! Not for the faint-hearted or broken-hearted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Stalking, Violence, Self harm, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death and Suicide

wperdue92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, and Child abuse

amberjackonski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Torture, and Child death

Moderate: Stalking and Gun violence

snowhite197's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Self harm, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

jackbifrost's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Death, Stalking, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Ableism

Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

tifftastic87's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

3.25

I loved this book when I read it on release. It had all my favorite Stephen King tropes: Castle Rock, blue chambray work shirts, a story of a novelist, a parallel universe, being able to flip between worlds, dozens of references to other books and songs, and a homicidal stalker. But! It was centered around a woman who was bad ass and she was even in her 50s. It was a story I needed at the time. 

But listening to it 17 years later as a fully fledged bad ass woman myself, it lost some of it's glow. At the time I didnt have a lot of examples of powerful women in lit or media, but since then I've found so many more and better. Some of this did not hold up the test of time. 

Mental health and childhood abuse are huge parts of this story and back in 2006 I loved how it was approached, but in the now of 2023... it's so bad. I caught myself being physically repulsed at some of the description, angry and sad at others. 

Overall, the story still gets me. One woman overcoming her grief and being stalked and attacked by a man out to hurt her just for the sake of hurting her, by finding the strength within herself. She gathered her sister, hollered her back, from a catatonic state, and realized she'd always been the strong one. Always been able to do things she never gave herself credit for. I still love that bit. 

It just... chose the wrong words from the language pool where we all go down to drink. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Excrement, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Sexual violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Animal cruelty, Addiction, and Cursing

Minor: Drug use, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Vomit