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averagesparrow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Classism, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual content, Excrement, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Death, Suicide, Homophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Child death
frankensteinscreature's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Pedophilia, Rape, and Toxic relationship
chelseachips's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Moderate: Infertility, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Sexism, and Violence
h0neybear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Death, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Ableism and Suicidal thoughts
mariekealkema's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Excrement, and Gore
egoldb5238's review
- 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
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body horror, Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Body shaming, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Antisemitism, Grief, Homophobia, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer and Vomit
sonder11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, and Gore
zakcebulski's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Reading and finishing this book is hard to describe. It is like reading a cultural watermark- a piece of the cultural consciousness that has had such a vast impact on social and pop culture. This book absolutely impacted the culture in a massive way- from movies, to references in television, to music, this is one of the most impactful works of the late 20th century.
And, after reading it, I found it... fine. I think that my expectations for this cultural phenom were a little too high, and this book ended up falling short.
I have to say immediately that I did not love this book, nor did I think that it justified its over 1,000 page length.
I think that the strongest part about this book was the characters. Bill, Beverly, Richie, Pennywise, Henry- all of these characters are exceptionally well crafted. Each person feels like a fully realized character- a fully realized person who has their own aspirations, desires, fears, and justifications for their actions. I appreciate that you grow to care for these characters, and you almost grow to the point where you are able to understand their reasoning for their actions and which choices they make. The facing of fears feels triumphant throughout this book- we see the characters face fears and run, and, when they face and overcome them, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride for them. When characters feel real to the point where their complexities of characteristics and personalities come through, that is well fucking done character writing. This book excels when it is more along the lines of the coming of age story- that was more fun to read. It is something we have all experienced, the uncertainty of life juxtaposed with the knowledge that we are growing up. It is fun to read through when the characters are just hanging out and being kids. King absolutely nails the care-free blending in to care-heavy transition of adolescence to adult hood.
While on the same topic of character, I do have to say that I feel like King always has a character or two that is just so fucking over the top where it is completely unbelievable that someone would act like they do. This book is full of some of the worst B tier characters that are seemingly only there just to be evil or show how bad Derry is. Good god, we get it, everyone is hellacious and racist, can there be a decent b-tier character?
I found the villains in this book to be one of the most demanding presence throughout the book, and throughout many of King's works. They are absolutely compelling and truly scary. Pennywise being the embodiment of primordial evil, Henry being a sociopathic unhinged killer, Patrick being a vicious near animalistic psychotic type, and the apathetic evil of discontent from other parents and adults- they are all brought to fruition in a big way that I think was one of the strongest parts of this book. The villains are hellacious, they are abhorrent, they are despicable, and they are very uncomfortable to read, and they are well written in that regard.
The two mending plot lines between the adults and the kids is a hard thing to do well, I am sure, and I think that King dies a great job of writing this converging plot to the point where he is effortlessly able to swap back and forth between the two.
This book was clearly a labor of love for King, and I think that it is well done, but, it does, in my opinion, suffer from the constant divergence to plot points to reaffirm or solidify in things about characters which we already know. I understand- Bill's parents are distant, Henry's dad is a piece of shit- as is Beverly's. It gets to the point when I feel that the badness (yep) of characters is so overdone to the point where it becomes silly, campy, unbelievable- which, if that is what King aimed for, then good on him! Overall, King is very good at making you hate a character- Henry, Belch, Tom, holy shit fuck these characters so much.
I thought that the plot tying up like it did was fine, though I do understand the critique of King being that he doesn't know how to end books off. This one ended off so... deus ex machina esque that I could only roll my eyes and think, yeah, that is what it is.
I also fucking hated, and I mean hated the sex scene- we all know what I am referring to. It just was so out of fucking nowhere. I understand that Beverly's sexuality had been weaponized against her, and this was a reclamation arc, but it was so fucking uncomfortable to read, and am I really supposed to believe they found their way out because of post nut clarity? Disgusting.
I cannot praise enough the setting of this book, or, rather, the settings. I thought that Derry, the sewers, the Barrens- they are all fully realized and well imagined. I think that this is one of King's strengths within all of the books which I have read by him- he is able to make each setting feel like it is always being lived in, regardless of if the characters are there or not. We are able to feel the palpable changes which occur throughout Derry because the townspeople talk, they gossip, they interact. I think that this was the most fun part of this book was the way the town feels like a place that is actually being impacted by something that it does not understand. It reminded me heavily of the book 11/22/63 wherein the areas as well felt very realistic and fully fleshed out.
I think that King's exploration of trauma and facing past trauma is very well handled and done in a mature way. He confronts it in a way that I truly appreciate. It is not a pleasant thing to face trauma, and the fact that he does take it seriously is commendable. Recognizing it as a process to surmount that can take decades to work through is the reality of trauma.
Over-all, I am glad to have read this book. I thought that the characters and the setting work of this book were the best parts. I found the plot a little too convenient for my liking.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual content, Infidelity, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Gaslighting, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, and Fatphobia
isobelvaisanen'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
3.25
Graphic: Racism, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Gore
gayla's review against another edition
1.0
Finally, the end just does not make sense at all. King was definitely high out of his mind when he wrote this. The whole book felt like an excuse for King to write all of his sickest thoughts into a poorly executed story.
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Body horror, and Antisemitism