Reviews with content warning for Murder - Firestarter

I've never read a book like, Firestarter, before and I absolutely loved it. The whole plot line of Andy and Charlie running from "the Shop" was eerie and exciting, and I loved how high the stakes were. The insight from all of the different character p.o.v.s made it very entertaining, yet frustrating because I just wanted to inform my favorite characters of what was going on around them. I sped through this book once I got into it, and I would definitely recommend to anyone who is into thrillers.

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megmo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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tfredenburg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

It seems that reading many of King's old works is a balancing act between great story concepts and highly-fraught execution. I cared about Charlie, and I wanted to see what would become of her, but that meant slogging through some truly horrendously racist, sexist, homophobic, fatphobic (etc.) material. And I don't mean these were small, annoying lines; I mean John Rainbird is a Native American character portrayed as predatory and frankly inhuman. It was this book that made me decide to let King's older works lie (aside from maybe Carrie, which I'd still like to visit.) I haven't read any of his newer stuff, so I can only hope this tendency has vanished.

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traceyanderson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

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myleejmiller's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

I grew up hearing all about the legends of Stephen King. The King of Horror, many call him. I was only convinced to read the first book I have picked up by him since hearing rumors over the years: Firestarter, when I saw the movie release trailers for the second adaptation. I was not disappointed by the novel. The storytelling was beautiful and vivid. The characters were deep and astonishing. Everything came together with rhyme and reason in tandem. However, despite the greatness of the story and its writing, I note a few issues within it. One being that at some points the main characters knowingly and willingly walk into danger, dreading it, when they could easily avoid it altogether. Second, this book was marked as Science-Fantasy Horror-Thriller. I will preface this by saying I am not easily scared or excited, but this book did not feel scary or tense to me. I have read contemporary non-horror books with what felt like harsher and more gripping stakes. Third, I have to say that the end of the story is completely predictable, at least to me. I found it easy to assume which events would happen before they came to pass. Otherwise, Firestarter by Stephen King was a masterpiece. It showed his prowess in painting detailed settings and giving the readers an inside look of life through the eyes of Andy and Charlie McGee.

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nadia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This isn't a King title that you hear a lot about so I went in not knowing the sort of vibe I was going to get at all, and I really enjoyed it! I definitely had a movie playing out in my head, with most of the characters, certainly all of the main ones, clearly defined. I especially appreciated the depiction of the main relationship between the two main characters, which served to add emotional impact to what was more of an entertaining, faster-paced thriller/action-movie style read.

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smartens's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

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