Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

25 reviews

raginsagein's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.25

So I will start by saying that this book is better than its predecessor. During the Eddie arc I was really cheering for King, thinking that maybe this one wouldn’t be racist or sexist. And then we meet Detta/Odetta/Susannah. And Detta is the worst kind of stereotype. And he mentions TWICE that she sounds like a stereotype. And my question is why have her talk like that in the first place when you simply…don’t have to. But all in all, I like the mysticism. I like where this series is headed. I think it’s a really cool and fun premise. I just…wish it was less racist for the sake of being racist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

axeltheredpanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

By far one of the best books I’ve ever read. The characters are incredible, the pacing is perfect, and the situations the characters are put through are extremely impactful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Classism

The hard r N word is used very liberally at times and a character is a racist caricature (though this is commented on within the book and she’s that way due to certain events)

lvl52_grant's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

This one feels much more ... natural? modern? Than the first. The first book of the series feels odd, but this book just moves a bit better for some reason. It's when we meet two more of the party of heroes on the quest for the Dark Tower, and two of my favorite characters. It's also when we learn of the interconnectedness of our world and that of Roland, particularly with New York City. 
It's also the reason lobsters kind of scare me now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

the_devotress's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Addiction, Gun violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

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

carleneb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

geeters14's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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: Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

filmmaths's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Still don't really understand the meaning/value of the dark tower, but there's more to appreciate here than just setting (which I couldn't say for my first read of the Gunslinger).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

directorpurry's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death

ggcd1981's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Este é o quarto livro (não contando os contos) que leio de Stephen King e o segundo volume da The Dark Tower Series. Vi várias pessoas dizendo que é no segundo livro que a série começa a ficar boa, mas na verdade preferi The Gunslinger a The Drawing of the Three, apesar da diferença não ser grande. No primeiro volume o mundo era intrigante e misterioso, o livro tinha problemas, mas não superaram meu interesse pelo mundo e personagens. Em The Drawing of the Three, apesar do positivo superar o negativo, os problemas da obra me incomodaram mais. Sendo breve sobre os pontos negativos:

A) Detta Walker, uma das personalidades de Odetta Holmes. Detta é um estereotipo ofensivo de mulher negra, King está ciente disso pois na obra Roland e Eddie Dean referenciam este fato literalmente dizendo que Detta age como um estereotipo. Porém o texto estar ciente disso não torna a leitura das cenas de Detta mais agradável. Ao final da obra o melhor evento é que Detta some (assim como Odetta) dando lugar a personalidade unificada de Susana Dean; B) a hiper-sexualização de personagens femininos, o que já acontecia no volume 1, mas infelizmente continua no volume 2; C) O último elemento que não gostei foi que em alguns momentos King escolheu mostrar a mesma cena do ponto de vista de várias pessoas, incluindo, por exemplo, Roland dentro da cabeça de Eddie e o próprio Eddie. As sequências em que o autor fez isso eram breves porem repetitivas e deixavam a cena um pouco maçante.

Apesar desses pontos o livro foi interessante e de fácil leitura. Gostei do conceito de 3 portas na praia que levavam para dentro da cabeça de pessoas no mundo que conhecemos: O prisioneiro Eddie Dean, A dama das sombras Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker e Morte, Jack Mort (um psicopata assassino responsável por eventos horríveis que influenciaram as vidas dos personagens do livro). Eu sempre prefiro os aspectos fantásticos do que os elementos mais realistas da história (ex. de realidade: o envolvimento de Eddie no tráfico de drogas).

Os personagens continuam sendo um ponto alto da escrita de King e ele faz com que ler sobre eles seja interessante mesmo quando você não gosta de alguns deles. Muita gente critica King por escrever demais. Para mim todos os detalhes que ele acrescenta dão profundidade ao mundo e personagens. Continuarei com a série e dou a The Drawing of the Tree 3.5 estrelas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt