Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Shining by Stephen King

22 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

An undeniably well-written piece of art. I was consistently enthralled, terrified, disturbed. I could not put it down. And it legitimately gave me nightmares, which has never happened to me before because of a book.

It is so different from the movie. I love them both.

There is a lot of racism, homophobia, ableism, and reference to sexual assault. I understand that some of it is contextual, given the time period

(the present day actions of the book and the hotel's metaphysical echoes of past eras)

and

Jack's undoing (possession)

, but Mr. King is really trigger happy with the N word. It's pretty wild. Also, in one of Jack's internal monologues -

before he goes mad

- King sort of implies that a "homosexual experience" can turn someone into a pedophile... and there is no dissenting argument there.... So... I didn't love that. BUT the book is pretty damn flawless besides that. I would absolutely read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape

autienaut's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

One of king’s finest works, a fictional delicacy ready to pounce on your every thrilling need. 
Impeccable writing and flawless execution.  🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing and Forced institutionalization

eadrianschmitz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

<Spoiler>
At first I was like omg ok I get it, he's an alcoholic. But then the emphasis made sense. I kind of wish it had been Jack that unravelled on his own rather than the hotel's fault for possessing him. Still a wonderful read and quite different from the film! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mangoatwar's review

challenging dark 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

4.0

The Shining is a masterpiece written by Stephen King. It perfectly depicts the horrors of human psychology and dives deep into it. The book sends you on a nail-biting, terrifying rollercoaster of emotions. The way this book is written scares you both in the short-term and in the long-term.
Example: Some parts of the book had me shaking from fear and the book instilled a slight fear of hotels into me for the long-term. I do not give this book 5 stars due to the extremely graphic content which I had trouble reading. However, besides the extremely detailed descriptions of violent acts, I love everything about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident

alvinsjoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

A very fun and interesting read. Stephen King really shows his creativity and talent for writing suspenseful stories and loveable characters in this book. Some parts felt long and unnecessary but it didn’t bother me that much because the rest was amazing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Racial slurs, Self harm, and Car accident

_marycappiello3's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

shiftycow1313's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident

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

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

tygeis02's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit