Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Joyland by Stephen King

15 reviews

latham9's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Gun violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Death of parent and Pedophilia

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Headline: 21-year-old man loses his virginity to a cougar in order to get over his college girlfriend he never had sex with. 🤣

I loved the setting of this book. We follow college student Devin Jones as he finds a summer job in North Carolina to work as a carny. In typical King fashion, things do not go as planned, and Devin finds himself following the threads of a long-ago secret. Nothing too, too crazy happened; I was expecting more twists but this was still a satisfying mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Murder

jourdanicus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

Another King done for me. I've been finding his books to be a good palate cleanser when I need something predictable (in a good way) in between more intense/heavy reads. Not much more to say... It's Stephen King...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, Death, Sexual content, Murder, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

sheryl_macca's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Stephen king has the unique ability to give you the very essence of a character in just one sentence. With a single phrase, mannerism or stance his characters are living, breathing people in the readers mind.

This same skill is also translated to King's locations and settings. With Joyland, its name alone tells us this is an amusement park clinging on from a bygone age, we can picture the peeling paint and the tired costumes of the knock off characters. We can feel the irony and smell the desperation.

This incredible efficiency is clever, it's impactful and engrossing. It works incredibly well for King in all of his works but in a novella like Joyland it ensures that you still get the full novel experience in a much shorter read. Note: the copy I read had 178 pages.

Joyland is a spooky mystery about murder, heartbreak, grief and belonging. Like it's amusement park, Joyland is sad and old school but with a pure soul. It deserves so much more recognition amongst King's amazing back catalogue.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts