Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

It by Stephen King

160 reviews

jhutch1324's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

3.5

I am having a hard time rating this book. I read it multiple times as a teenager and enjoyed it. This time I decided to listen to it and I'm not sure if that affected my perception but I am no longer a fan of this novel. I am a King fan and so enjoy his writing but this one is a little too much for me. Lots of racial slurs, which when reading I guess I skimmed, but when listening it made me cringe every time. Now this is normal for King and it's always terrible characters that we hate using them but it doesn't change the fact that listening to them repeatedly was rough (and I'm white). Also, I didn't remember the amount of sex talked about by children which as an adult felt weird to listen to. Especially one scene, and if you've read it you know exactly which part, that I must have blocked out because wtf, why was that part necessary, it didn't add anything to the plot that couldn't have been added another way.

I will continue to be a King fan and even a fan of this movie but I think I may have accidentally ruined the book for myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

julells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

Ein fesselndes, geniales und verstörendes Buch, das mir an einigen Stellen doch schon fast ein bisschen zu viel war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Vomit, Car accident, and Death of parent

evaku's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

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

4.0

at last, the beast has been conquered!
i can’t believe that some years ago, i somehow managed to read this within a span of one week. crazy!
there’s a reason why It is hailed as one of Stephen King’s best. his insanely detailed exposition and exploration of each character’s individual lives and their relationships with one another is something unlike anything i’ve seen in other written works. perhaps to a fault, as i think we could’ve done without so much information (sorry King.) as much as it’s praised though, i think there is A LOT of room for valid criticism. whether you chalk it up to the era in which it was written (or in which the story takes place) or his drug-addled mind, the language (aka the slurs, of which there are multiple), incessant sexual innuendos and sexual scenarios (chapter 22 i'm looking at you), and others... take up so much of the story it almost ruins it.
if half of the time dedicated to fleshing out background characters like Patrick Hockstetter was instead used to dive into the clown known as Pennywise, you'd have a terrifyingly better 1000-page (or 45 hour) story on your hands.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder

kitkatdub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder

gizley0420's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical content

vicreads24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

roman_castavet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a long book and one which I would maybe say could due to be a few hundred pages shorter. This book took me over a year to read particularly due to the extensive "Derry history" parts and boomerangs between very fast pacing and aggressively slow dry parts, but in the end, I loved it. This is my second King read after The Shining, which I did love more in the moment but this book is less horror than it is adventure and a really beautiful coming of age story. At points, this read was a slog, but the character development is so special. I don't know if I would ever return to this book, but I am so glad to have finally finished it after a year, and the world building and character study is genuinely impressive and has truly loveable people to relate to. I think I maybe love this book? Despite being one of the reads that has taken me the longest to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Antisemitism

Minor: Pedophilia

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

2.5

This book is actually immensely sad and I need to lie down for a while. It also could have been shorter and less racist and antisemitic. But it was immensely compelling - there was absolutely no point where I considered putting it down.
I had a really excellent time comparing the overlap of Dark Tower and IT, thinking about all the Easter eggs and crossovers that I've already read about or seen in King books and adaptations. My favorite part of this experience was honestly slotting in a new piece of the SK puzzle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, and Suicide

Minor: Infertility and Rape

aj9moon's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

fadeddpages's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

This could've been half the length and it would've been way better. There's SO MUCH extra/excess information and background. Also major trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism