Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Shining by Stephen King

156 reviews

arihana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

booonbooon's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol

melissa_keen's review

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

5.0

Amazing book, as you'd expect from Stephen King. Very different from the film - none of the iconic moments like "Here's Johnny" happen, nor the "all work and no play" bit. However, I think the ending is so much better in the book. Without giving too much away, it's sad but also sort of hopeful. All the characters have so much more depth, particularly Jack, the dad, and Wendy, the mother. Jack fights hard to stop the hotel from taking him over, and to fight his alcoholism, while he's made to look like a weak alcoholic in the film. Wendy is also a fighter in the book, doing whatever she can to protect their son. As King himself has admitted, she is whiny and screamy in the film. This book is definitely worth a read - it's a classic for a reason!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

scip's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Murder

Minor: Self harm and Vomit

michaelatrelby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Alcohol

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.75

What I enjoy about King is the character work, he does a good job in creating characters and moving them through strange settings. 

Danny - Poor kid, he really deserved better. I loved his ability to keep hoping against hope that things would turn out okay. 

Jack - Alcoholic father trying to quit drinking. I struggled with him because part of me felt bad for him while the other felt like King gave him no way out so what's the point?

Wendy - The mom who isn't used to standing up for herself or her son until the literal worst starts happening. She also didn't have many resources or anything to help her gain confidence so I can see why she had trouble with it. 

The racism, homophobia, and misogyny was all used without any kind of nuance and the constant use of the n-word was really unnecessary. 

Overall, it's not that scary, at times it's a bit silly (possessed hedges?) and what is scarier is the isolation and the mental states of the characters. 

Neither the book or movie is perfect, but together they make for something a bit more interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mariana_ct08's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rtthalia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Truly terrifying,  as the master of horror takes us on a journey of alcoholism,  madness, and violence. Generational abuse meets supernatural evil in ways that will stay with the reader. Danny, his mom Wendy,  and dad Jack had no idea that a seasonal job at a high end hotel could go so wrong. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Racial slurs, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting