Reviews - Pet Sematary | The StoryGraph

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11.1k reviews for:

I wish I read this book before watching any of the film adaptions because the book was so much better than the films! The fact that I knew everything that was coming spoiled the excitement for me which is why I could not give it a full 5 stars. I wish so baddddd.

felixmoeller's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Amazing

jdunnington101's review against another edition

3.5

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

xoxomouse's review against another edition

2.0

What the fuck was this. Did not deliver on the promise of the premise. How are you going to tease dead toddler for the entire book and then the dead toddler is almost a complete non-issue and is just some weird little dude in a suit who talks like a late night television host who let the cocaine win. The entire book was ruined for me by Gage completely missing the uncanny valley effect that Church had since there was no trace of the little boy he used to be left in him. We can literally see that King can do this well because he DOES do it well when Church comes back, and then Gage's resurrection completely flops. The entire setup of the book is that things never come back the same and it's better for them to stay dead, but then the thing that Gage comes back as is in no way related to who Gage was when he was alive. The thing that comes back isn't a bastardized Gage, it's an all-knowing demon that has beef with Jud who inhabits the body of a toddler. That could have been scary, but it wasn't at all what the lead up was priming us to be scared of. And it ended so suddenly. The end wasn't awful, all things considered, but after the Gage-resurrection cringefail I totally wasn't happy with it.

Also, because I can't not talk about it: the portrayal of the creature taken from Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Cree, Naskapi, and Innu culture was not good. The creature's presence in the book was just not well done, like from the standpoint of being scary. The actual stories of the creature from these cultures that have been passed down over hundreds of years are scary, this was just...if you need a demon in the story just use a demon. It took something bone chilling and made the creature into something that would have been scarier if it was literally just a cannibal ghost or something.

That being said, I can't give the book a 1 star review because I think the only two things it fails at are Gage's return and the portrayal of the creature that haunts the place beyond the pet sematary. The rest of the book was exceedingly well done. King succeeds at characterization and interpersonal relationships, and he especially excels at married couples dealing with grief. If the Gage return hadn't been so bad it would have been a four and if the creature had just been a demon it would have been a five.

That being said, this book will live in my head forever.