Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

23 reviews

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

I keep reading Stephen King because he's a hell of a storyteller. This story is GOOD. The writing is compelling, the pacing keeps you wanting to turn the pages, and the characters give you whiplash rooting for and against them. 

That being said, I didn't love the first book in the series, but am glad I continued.

However, this book is dated in a lot of ways. There are outdated slurs of all kinds and horrible ableist language. This is hard to overlook, despite the book's publishing date. I can forgive some of it, but not all of it.

Overall, I had a great time reading this and will continue reading the series over time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Hate crime and Islamophobia

misfitnightmare's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Cringed a lot for unnecessary use of n slur in the book. Plus it seems that S. King didn't do very good research about mental disorders because Odetta doesn't have schizophrenia, she has DID. Other than that it was better than the first book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ee_comins's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Slavery

littlered22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Very slow start but the ending picks up and I'm pretty excited for the next one based off the ending of this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

briguy992's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

victoriakerr131's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

Frank Muller did an incredible job narrating this audiobook! I didn't know what to expect going into this book; I didn't really enjoy the first book in the series, it was slow and not a lot happened - mostly world building. This one however was much more engaging and will make me continue the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Hate crime, and Murder

jagrove's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, and Murder

dovahkiin_shea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

ziopera's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm relieved that I enjoyed this second installment much more than the first. I feel invested in Roland's journey now, and I might actually remember the events of this book when I come to read the third!

This is noticeable in a few of King's books from the '80s and earlier, but he throws racial slurs around carelessly at times, and it's something to be prepared for. He's careful to mention when a particular element of the story is a blatant and inaccurate stereotype, but that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable.

There's something quite lovely about seeing such a serious character as the Gunslinger experience life in our world for the first time. His first Pepsi, his first brain freeze, his inability to pronounce the word aspirin, all humanised him enough to make the whole story more engaging for me.

I was also much more invested in Eddie and Odetta's stories than Roland's alone, and by the third door I was completely hooked. The tension shot up and I rushed through the last 100 pages. There were some brilliant connections made and I feel set up for the rest of the series now.

And the tower is closer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder