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bites_of_books's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Danny - Poor kid, he really deserved better. I loved his ability to keep hoping against hope that things would turn out okay.
Jack - Alcoholic father trying to quit drinking. I struggled with him because part of me felt bad for him while the other felt like King gave him no way out so what's the point?
Wendy - The mom who isn't used to standing up for herself or her son until the literal worst starts happening. She also didn't have many resources or anything to help her gain confidence so I can see why she had trouble with it.
The racism, homophobia, and misogyny was all used without any kind of nuance and the constant use of the n-word was really unnecessary.
Overall, it's not that scary, at times it's a bit silly (possessed hedges?) and what is scarier is the isolation and the mental states of the characters.
Neither the book or movie is perfect, but together they make for something a bit more interesting.
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Racism, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, and Physical abuse
rtthalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
mermaidmommy182's review against another edition
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Mental illness, Racism, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
jordan_uhden's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Addiction, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, and Death
felofhe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
uranaishi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexism, Dementia, Grief, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Vomit
chaptersbydani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Word on the street is that every one of Stephen King’s books have been banned/or challenged at some point since their publication. The Shining was challenged for “containing violence and demonic possession and [ridiculing] the Christian religion” in Wyoming and Alabama.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I’m honestly shocked that I liked this as much as I did. This book broke my reading slump and kept me up all night. This is my first Stephen King book and I totally understand why he is the icon he is.
The way he writes is just mind blowing. It’s so simple. You never feel like it’s over your head and you always feel so close to figuring everything out. But you just never quite do until he reveals it. And despite the fact that basically every character is the most awful person I’ve ever encountered (Jack being the worst), I was sucked in immediately.
And the way the text was formatted??? Cherry on top. It added so much suspense and really illustrated the flirtation/ descent into madness.
There definitely was violence and demonic possession. I didn’t see the ridicule of Christianity (and wouldn’t have cared if it was there tbh.) My only issue is that I didn’t love King’s use of racial slurs. It made sense when the hotel used them and I could halfway accept that. Capitalism is an incredibly racist system and is violent- emotionally and physically- to Black folks (understatement). It makes sense that the Hotel, the symbol of capitalism here, was verbally violent to our main Black character. The other uses just felt out of line considering the author is white.
I wish that our main Black character, Dick, had more purpose in the book than guiding Danny and saving him and Wendy. It felt like he was just a tool for Danny’s development than anything. He’s a cool character and deserved a little bit more.
I will say, this is a book that I was pleasantly surprised lives up to its hype. I’m excited to watch the movie and see how it matches up. Also apparently there’s a sequel? I’m thinking of checking that out too.
Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts
lily_112358's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Blood, Bullying, Murder, and Death of parent
housedesignerking'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
The book and its adaptation have the same synopsis: Jack Torrence has lost several jobs because of his anger and his drinking. He's given up drinking, but he still lost his job as a teacher because he punched a student. A friend of his has called in a favor to get him a job being the caretaker of a large hotel in the mountains of Colorado in its off season. Danny Torrence has a special gift where he knows things and learns things without even needing to be in the room. He can hear people's thoughts (like a hilarious moment where he knows a middle-aged woman is lusting after a 20-something male's behind), and according to a nice man named Dick Halloran, it's known to some people as "shining." At least that's what Dick's grandmother called it. They used to have lots of conversations by simply thinking to each other. The hotel is basically haunted by an evil presence, and a man named Delbert Grady did his immediate family in by way of murder/suicide.
The book is a brilliant work of fiction, but I did have an interesting time getting used to King's writing style when it comes to when a character is thinking or when Danny's supposedly imaginary friend was talking to him. In books by other authors, a character's thoughts are italicized. King chose to put thoughts and other voices between parentheses. Interesting choice. The cast did a good job putting the movie together, but the script leaves a bit to be desired. I've seen the movie twice now, so I suggested to my fiancé that we read the book. This is the first Stephen King book I've ever read, and it's so good that I enjoyed it because this could have been very unfortunate. One of the joys that a movie watcher has is being able to point out the differences between the movie and the book. There are a lot of differences. For one, Ullman is a nice man in the film, a total jerk in the book. For another, the movie's ending and this book's ending bear no relation to one another at all. Further, they left so many things out of the film. After reading this, I still consider the 1980 adaptation to be a 3-star film, but the book gets 5 stars. The last 90 pages of this were just epic!
Now, I await the 1997 adaptation to come in the post. I've heard it's closer to the book than the original.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Cursing
Moderate: Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Murder, and Biphobia
annikw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Murder, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Child death
Minor: Cannibalism