Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

32 reviews

corinne828's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This could very well be the best standalone book I’ve ever read. As always, King does a fantastic job of writing characters that feel grounded in a world where vampires live amongst us. The backdrop of the Lot is the perfect setting - dark and ominous with the mysteries of the Lot looming above all of the citizens. I foresee myself picking this up again and again in the fall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

daisy_eliza's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Deeply chilling and masterfully carved horror rendering anyone to child-like fear. The use of metaphors and similes are entrancing and fully embraces you into the world. The character of Mark, a mere boy was especially interesting, seeing him overcome adversity and being an active character in stopping evil, contrasted against the conceivable who ran at the danger and had a selfish lac of care for the town he had a duty to protect. The most notable and gut-wrenching part I thought was when Matt Burke had invited a man home who had clearly been being drained of blood, and Matt's account and paralysing fear of hearing the window being unlocked in the next room- positively terrifying!! My only slight gripe was it appeared that in the final showdown Barlow died rather easily, yet then again the build-up made that not as noticeable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

While I have seen quite a few Stephen King film adaptations, this is the first time I’ve actually read his work. I was pleasantly surprised- I’ve often heard controversial things about King’s writing but generally enjoyed reading this one.

I was definitely spooked reading Salem’s Lot, there is a lot of suspense and action that I had to keep myself from reading ahead to see what became of it. King’s writing is very atmospheric, I was truly spooked by some of his descriptions! I did find the plot a little touch and go, the ending confused me as it included dates (October 1972-June 1975) but I was not sure what it had to do with the book. This may also just be an ebook error, though. I couldn’t tell.

The end did leave me wanting more, I wanted to know what became of Ben and Mark but I was also satisfied with leaving them determined to end the terror of the Lot. On creativity, I also am always going to be in Shirley Jackson’s corner. Yes, the book openly quotes and references Hill House, but it also felt as if it didn’t offer much more to the discussion and sometimes reduced it to plain text. Essentially, there were times I was a bit annoyed that it felt like a rip-off.

Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it as a fun read! I did not think it necessarily became a hallmark of vampire literature, but it was definitely scary, suspenseful, and really fun at some points. The characters are interesting and lovable, I was rooting for many of them (even the vampire kids against the bus driver!) and generally enjoyed the dialogue.

I would recommend this book to any vampire lover or new horror fan, Stephen King is of course a household name and has created so many iconic characters. It’s also always fun to read a story about evil vampires, as much as I loved Twilight as a kid!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jovanh's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a fairly enjoyable homage to Dracula, with King's signature host of smalltown characters, (plus his sympathy for childhood terror, and casual female objectification).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual content

alex60517'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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

bensonblues's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

This is single-handedly one of the vest Vampire novels ever written. It's everything you want Dracula to *actually* be. 

And it's very clear Midnight Mass wouldn't exist without it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia and Rape

While graphic, nothing ever feels out of place, equally it never feels like it's KING saying it, it's all the character. It's brilliantly written.

poorlyassembled's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

lunarpancakes's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

I enjoyed ‘salem’s Lot overall! There were a few things that kept me from loving it loving it, y’know? 

I didn’t like that it came down to a few dudes taking on the vampires — I wish the heroes were a bit more diverse. 

I feel like my qualm with Barlow is similar to my qualms with Sauron. He is this looming evil figure who we don’t get to see all that much. I understand why we only see Barlow for a limited amount of time (the clock is ticking, after all, and Barlow was wise to lay low until he did), I just think the kind of villains I prefer are ones who are formidable, immovable, and incredibly involved with the story. My perfect villain is Annie Wilkes, IMO. So Barlow didn’t freak me out as much. He’s cruel, just not constantly in the picture.

Also — and I understand that this has to do with personal taste — I didn’t really care about all of the residents of the Lot. The little details and the named characters who hardly made appearances were hard to keep up with.

Either way, I enjoyed the twists and turns :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

luciagr5's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

bfab18's review against another edition

dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence