Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Shining by Stephen King

59 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.

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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

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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

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.

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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

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

emnime's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I love reading Stephen King but every time he writes for women or black people it just… doesn’t work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

riflelizards's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

angyr's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

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

jaimc's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

 I read the first of the Dark Tower series a while ago and thought I’d never read Steven king again. He just has a way of writing that is really evocative, but often…weird? Not in a sci fi/horror/thriller concept way but in a, “why do you always write women like THAT” way, in a “oh there’s this harmful trope again” way; it got repetitive and I had to stop reading him for a bit. But this was honestly SO good that I was able to push through the weird moments, and I think it’s bc you get so many POV characters with clear and fleshed out intentions here. Plus the tension just flows SO well, I actually was so stiff the whole back half.
The old saying about books always being better than their movies rings really true here (though I do adore the Kubrick movie, regardless). I loved how different the two are! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Additional TW/CW: physical assault (modereate), homophobic slurs (minor), drunk driving (minor), ableist slurs (minor), overdose (minor), hallucination/unreality (graphic), manipulation (graphic)