Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

8 reviews

joshkiba13's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

James Franco did great with the audiobook, though I had to accelerate his slow reading to 1.30 speed. Really interesting premise, and I really enjoyed the 3rd person omniscient view where we got to jump from character to character, sometimes even within a scene. And I liked that some of the scenes involved bystanders watching Johnny, the main character. I've noticed that King often goes for a slow, slow burn, and this book was no exception. That said I remained interested all along and cared about the characters. The only part that bothered me was

Johnny's vision of the rapist while in the act of abusing a child. Far too graphic for me

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, and Rape

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, and Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent

seeker42's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Violence, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, Cancer, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

rosereadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Animal death

travisppe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

Classic King romp

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Medical trauma, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical content, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug use, Cursing, and Alcohol

kell_xavi's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

Stephen King writes a story of belief and desperation, class, politics, and disability. I liked Johnny Smith, and I liked King’s elaboration on how fear can manifest in religious obsession, in trust of the strangest authority when the working class is neglected and unheard for too long. I liked the setting in the 1970’s and quiet northeastern states, both far away places to me, made familiar by these pages. The first third is often slow, creaking along and introducing a number of scattered points that disappear and come back later (I forgot who kicked the dog, what happened to the waitress, what state we were in, a few times—made more difficult by the audiobook, where I couldn’t flip back easily). But once Sarah visits and then Johnny gets a call from Castle Rock, the story has more life. 

Johnny goes from a smart, likeable small town teacher to a haunted, sick man in the ten years this story covers; King articulates the internal pain and shame of his disability, coupled with the curiosity and hope and anger of those who encounter it, very well. I was on his side the whole way through, because he remains intelligent, considerate, the whole way through, even as he loses his ability to be part of the same reality as those around him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, War, and Misogyny

molsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Medical content

sheryl_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is my favourite King novel and rereading it didn’t change my mind! 

The Dead Zone follows John Smith who wakes from a coma with psychic abilities. Usually, he just finds lost things, or predicts something happening in the near future, but when he touches Greg Stillson, he sees a much bleaker future for the world.

This is very much a story of extraordinary events happening to ordinary people. John isn’t special, other than his ability. The supporting characters are also very well realised.  Stillson doesn’t ever fall into a parody - tho I’m sure when the book came out in 1979, people never thought that someone who acted like an idiot and riled crowds up could get elected to anything... 

There’s a lot of similarities between The Dead Zone and another of my favourite King’s - 11.23.63. Both pose the question: what would you do if you have the chance to change history? 

There’s also a few references to the King universe (whether intentional or not!). It’s set in the Maine area, just like a lot of King novels, there’s a lot of 19 references and one blue chambray work shirt! We also have manically religious mother’s (two!) and a reference to the movie Carrie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Violence

afittingdistraction's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

I seem to make a subconscious habit of reading the right Stephen King books at the right time. I'm struggling with my health right now and I wont lie the themes of medical related grief were so well done in this that I had to actually put it down sometimes due to finding it overwhelming. Being chronically ill + disabled myself the idea/realisation that you've missed out on whole experiences and chunks of life is a constant companion. Not to mention the continuous cycle of grief and frustration at wondering how you're supposed to grieve something you never even had in the first place. 

And King does this brilliantly! Just like in Pet Sematary (which still remains my favourite King so far) the grief plays such a strong role, stronger even at times than the supernatural element. And like Pet Sem, if it was a book only about ghosts or ancient burial grounds, or in this case awakening with pre cognition after an accident, it would fall flat because those things have been written before. Its King's brilliant character writing that makes it so good.

You really feel for Johnny & he's one of the few truly good, kind guys. Which is what makes it such an emotional read since you really connect with him. Just a guy who's rolled double zero in life & luck and now has to deal with consequences. Halfway through I honestly couldn't imagine where it was going to go or how it was going to end but by the time I did finish it I couldn't imagine it ending any other way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual violence