Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Institute by Stephen King

54 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I feel like this is Steven King’s version of a Marvel superhero story if it were directed by Stephen Spielberg.

Fun read and l ight (as much as a story about child torture and exploitation can be), though long.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

czoltak's review against another edition

dark slow-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? No

3.0

I would’ve liked this a lot more if it wasn’t so unnecessarily long and drawn out 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

repeatt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Kidnapping

sarahjanehayes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

lots of great, round characters, multiple POVs

could have been shorter, main characters end up with the short end if the stick the entire book, and mentions too many current events for my taste

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Torture

daisymoffit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't tend to go for Stephen King, as I'm not the biggest fan of gore; but l've had this on my shelf for years now, and so it was finally time. I do, however, enjoy horror and thrillers- and thankfully The Institute skewed more so in that direction instead of aimless blood and guts. Interesting premise, it makes you want to keep reading to figure out what's actually going on, and well executed as far as explaining the plot in a way that doesn't give you too much information all at once. The characters are well written and diverse, and the ending doesn't leave you too frustrated or disappointed. My only quell would be that it's a bit slow and sometimes too detailed on the "science" going on within the plot, but besides the slight bore that that brings-overall a decent, interesting horror book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

♡ Small Town

♡ Toxic Institute 

♡ The Kid Saves the Day

While I don’t care for a lot of Stephen Kings books, I think I might have finally found the exception.  This book was really good.  The details in this book weren’t overwhelmingly unnecessary but rather well written into the plot, the backstory and setting.  While there were a few parts I didn’t care for like the mentions of a thermometer, dude, they are children why was that necessary to write like that and then joke about later one in the book? It was just an ick about the book. 

There were more things I enjoyed about this book than things I disliked.  The plot was amazing and all of the characters were very well detailed.  It was such an entertaining read, it kept my interest the entire time.

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧💧💧💧 (4/5)

POV: Multiple, Third Person

Release Date: 01, September 2020

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dementia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Excrement, Police brutality, Car accident, and Alcohol

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

very good book!! dark but well-written and interesting worldbuilding

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs

societarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

eyyline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Medical trauma