Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Stand

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The Stand by Stephen King

87 reviews

joshkiba13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

Sheeeeesh. 1,153 pages, 78 chapters, and roughly 40 hours spent reading this behemoth of a novel. I think the most accurate description of King as a writer (of novels at least) is slow burn. I have yet to read a book by him that is action-packed, and that's totally fine. He is able to set a fuse burning, a proverbial time-bomb ticking that figuratively (or literally 👀) goes off with a bang---eventually.

People often say that King is a great character writer, and that rings true here. I don't know that I've read a book with so many main characters and perspectives, but I was never really confused. Larry, Frannie, Lloyd, Stu, Tom, Nick, Harold, Nadine, etc. were all so distinct and unique from each other, it was relatively simple to follow their stories and intentions, and to become invested in their doings.

I loooooved the premise and rising action of the story. Spoiler-free: A new superflu ravages society and kills nearly everyone in its path. Some people mysteriously survive without symptoms, and despite being separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, these characters all begin to have the same dreams and nightmares, pulling them to one place or the other. It was so intriguing and satisfying to watch them begin to move and meet.

King builds a lot of dramatic irony for the readers, since we know the doings of certain characters that other characters do not. At one time I had to put the book down and take a break because I was so anxious.

I'll say that the third act became a little dry and anti-climactic in a way, but not overall disappointing. Just maybe not what I expected. And the dark man wasn't quite as scary or powerful as he was built up to be in the rising action, but I am looking forward to seeing more of him in other King books :)

A pretty amazing story with great characters. M-O-O-N, that spells a pretty great book but not his best by any means.

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nicilaui's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book was an incredible journey and accompanied me for a whole month of my life. That's why I feel very close to the characters and will surely miss them. King can write fluently and interestingly, which is why I was able to get through this mountain of pages easily. This crusher should have been read during Corona, but even so, I was able to draw very creepy parallels to the past pandemic. The basic structure of the work was really great, but I couldn't get stuck inside the story. The narration is extremely biblical, but then again ‘cool’ and typically ‘American’. The story built up naturally one after the other, but a lot of tension was lost for me. I could guess the ending very early on in almost exactly the same way as it happened, which I found very sobering. All in all, I'm not mad about reading this book, I really enjoyed it, but it didn't grab me in any way like other books have done in my life. In the end, a lot happened, but in a way nothing happened at all (maybe that's the point).

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bookish_manda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I had several people recommend this Stephen King book to me, including my history teacher friend from high school. This is my fourth King book, and at this point I’ve enjoyed reading 50% of them. I’m a fantasy and dystopian fan, but I think I mostly like King’s high fantasy books (Fairytale and The Eyes of the Dragon). I really didn’t like Gunslinger.

As far as The Stand goes, I don’t think this book was worth the many hours of listening. I opted to listen to the 2008 complete and uncut edition, and I think that was a mistake. A forty eight hour audiobook is really long. Especially a Stephen King audiobook…

I liked this book better than Gunslinger, but there were so many things that bothered me about The Stand. It was originally published in 1978, but 2024 me struggled getting passed the old-school norms of misogyny, religious influence, rape, and language towards minorities (persons of color and persons with disability).

I think I will need to try King’s later books and non-fantasy/dystopian books (excluding any future high fantasy books).

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scipio_africanus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

Damn good story. My first time reading Stephen King, and he didnt disappoint. From the synopsis I went in expecting it to be overly sentimental, corny, cartoonish, or just plain weak the way The Postman ended up being but was pleasantly surprised with the direction King took the story and the characters. I see why King is so successful. Great writing and a great time. Will def be exploring him more.

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dflemmons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

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catherineelms's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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glysing's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

0.5

Worst book I have ever read. Very good proof of why men are unable to write women’s perspectives. And also a school book example of a book where every single woman character is a sexobject or a mother. Over all a confusing storyline that feels like a series who got to seasons enough. Do not recommend to anyone ever.

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