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boswelld's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
amanda_flynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Hate crime, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Infertility and Infidelity
nathanschmidt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Child death, Cursing, Body horror, Incest, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Homophobia
maggiefaerie's review against another edition
I really wanted to love this book. I'm not scared easily, and everyone I know says this is the most frightening book they've read. I've had some disappointments recently, so I wanted something to scare me at least a little. I finally threw in the towel after chapter 7-6.
This book drags so much. I'm 1/3 of the way in and there's so much bloated writing that I honestly don't feel invested at all. There's a balance between atmosphere and plot, and this book leans heavily on settings before establishing motives or developing the characters. I basically spent 10 hours reading a book with the exact vibes of Stand By Me when I thought I was reading horror. I'm really disappointed because I wanted to be completely and absolutely terrified by the book, and I was, but not because of the monster.
I honestly cannot get past the homophonia, anti-semitism, fat shaming, mysogony, abuse, and racism. If you want to read this, be aware that this book casually drops many slurs in reference to minority groups. The liberal character descriptors that involve all the really bad slurs you can think of were unnecessary and truly uncomfortable.
The abuse is also way too explicit for me. There's nothing I've enjoyed about this experience of reading this book.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Antisemitism, Body horror, Bullying, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Medical trauma, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Alcoholism
ilaxaria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Incest, Gore, Racism, Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Fatphobia
deathtoy4444's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Bullying, Hate crime, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, and Stalking
nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Vomit, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Hate crime, Grief, Homophobia, Sexism, Bullying, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence
bomenvernietiger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Stalking, Vomit, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Antisemitism, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Ableism, Cancer, and Islamophobia
cloudbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The bad:
Simply put, it was too long. 500 pages of this could have been cut out completely and it would have been a better story. I couldn't keep all the characters in my head and I lost track of who and where and how.
For a book of over 1000 pages, it spent so long talking about anecdotes, about side characters, about unimportant scenes and in general it does not talk much about the monster. You easily spend 200 pages waiting for the monster. It's not scary. It's just annoying.
Also kids having sex in a sewer as the solution to killing the monster? No thank you. I understand why but I simply didn't like it.
The good:
The monster was terrifying when it was there. The writing is really good too but this is Stephen King. That's to be expected.
I will never touch this book again
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Bullying, Murder, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, and Racial slurs
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Alcoholism