Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Shining by Stephen King

395 reviews

isabellex111's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This has a lot of derogatory language and child abuse. It is emotional and really liked it. The pace is a little slow but not in a boring way and although it is sloe it is also tense.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, and Blood

aniloma's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aniki'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I liked taking note of the motifs in this book that arent present in the movie, the characters feel so much more alive.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Racism

danaburger's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Shining is a great book (dare I say, a masterpiece), however, one of the reasons I stay away from Stephen King books is because they simply do NOT need to be 450+ pages long… the writing is often times verbose and repetitive; as if the editor was asleep at the wheel. King’s style of storytelling and character development also meanders; there are multiple tangents that leave the reader going, ‘ok, wtf did that have to do with anything,’ not metaphorical or plot driven in any way, seemingly just a device King uses to make a character 3 dimensional for himself and himself alone in his creative process.
As a reader of color I also find it pertinent to add a trigger warning for others, especially if you opt for an audiobook enjoyment of this title: Heavy use of the N word. Completely fitting for the time period’s social climate, and puts an exclamation point on Jack’s descent into madness as well as the notion that The Overlook is an inherently evil entity which resorts to mental manipulation of it’s victims… buuuuuut also gratuitous, and it did make me cringe the 3rd, fourth and successive times reading it. I get it, but we could’ve reined it in with some more thoughtful editing.

Also:

Kubrick killed Halloran, King did not. Meaning, your boy is the hero of the tale and not just another dead black body in a horror film.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

jackhayes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Grief

Moderate: Violence

erinevans_'s review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Death of parent

tmayfld's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

This book is a keeper for me. It’s the first Stephen king book I’ve completed and I will not stop raving about it. The backstory of the family and flaws of the father hit close to home for me. I think with out it this book wouldn’t nearly be as good. King does a great job slowly building tension throughout the entire book. The pace quickens so much more after part 4 I couldn’t put it down. He does throw in some unnecessary racial slurs at the end otherwise there weren’t any glaring flaws. Skip the movie and read the book. You’ll be happy you did. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs

elelellen's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

so so different from the film, i understand why king doesnt like it. so much better than the film too, and thats saying a lot. having said that, it was too description heavy for me personally, and an unnecessary amount of racist and sexist language. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

mrgriffit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It’s clear to see why this book is a staple of the horror genre. King’s writing flows easily and the pacing is nice and tense, even when the story gets stretched out in the middle and towards the end. That said, I think King is holding himself back with his own narrative.

I honestly could not find any sympathy for Jack by the end of the book like I think King wants you to; I only found pity. There was ample opportunity to center the story on the very human ways that Jack is evil and actively choosing to be so, irregardless of how he was raised or how other people treat him, instead of making the hotel actually possessing him. By doing this, it comes off that King is saying that Jack is just a victim and not at fault for his own actions.

All that to say, for all the things King does right, there’s a better version of this story out there somewhere (and it may be the movie version, which I’ve never seen, since I know that there were some bigger changes to the story in it). Still, it’s a well crafted story and is worth the read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Homophobia

sayacanread's review

dark mysterious 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

5.0

Really ended up loving this. As a fan of the movie, getting more in depth backstories of these characters helped me understand how these events unfolded. As unlikeable as Jack is, his character is very well written and his decent into madness feels a lot more believable - which makes the story all the more horrifying. Also Wendy and Danny were given a lot more autonomy and I honestly wish the movie had too. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism