Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Shining by Stephen King

88 reviews

dannilmp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

What I have always come to think of as a Stephen King classic, The Shining does not disappoint as a gripping, terrifying novel. Here we join the Torrence family as they move to an isolated hotel during the winter season while Jack works as the caretaker. In typical King fashion, things start to go wrong and Jack begins to change while Danny is left to deal with his own developing psychic capabilities.

While I didn't like Jack Torrence's character, I must commend King on being able to write a character that I hate but love at the same time? Jack's character is very well written and watching his descent into madness while caring for the hotel made shivers crawl down my spine. Certain scenes made me put the book down to process, including both the bathtub scene and

the scene where Jack still drags himself around despite his stab wound

I haven't read many King books yet but I feel like the ending to The Shining was actually sort of pleasant compared to other books that I have read. 

I don't think Wendy got enough character development, or at least she seemed like the least important member of the family during their stay. I still think she was well written regardless, but I would have liked to have seen some of the supernatural in her as well as the boys. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

mattythebookworm22's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Alcoholism

Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Medical trauma and Drug abuse

itsmeyseniab's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Suicide

alaskan_bull_worm's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

My first Stephen King book! What do I think of it? 

I really liked the beginning and middle more than the end. I can’t really explain it, but I wasn’t as sucked in. I feel like I end up rushing near the end of a book just because it’s in sight. 
The disembodied style of the nightmare sequences weren’t as effective as they could have been. I think the looking-into-characters’-minds had the highest quality writing. (I’m not saying King was horrible in other ways. Just that you win some, you lose some.) The huge violent scenes near the end didn’t work as well with me, is what I’m trying to say. I really don’t know why. I guess my previous point was really the “why.”
I loved the parts where we get into Jack’s mind to see his slow degrade into madness (or loss of self-control, or the hotel taking over him, whichever way you see it). It was interesting to see his perception of his father shift later on. He kind of changed the story of why his father did what he did. 
I have mixed feelings about Wendy. Her personality was kind of just “mother and wife,” though she certainly was a round character. I guess it’s just that near the end we see how strong she really is (willfully, mostly) compared to her more empty threats to Jack during their relationship. I mean, Jack did lots of bad things, and she was always upset about him doing that, but she rarely did much about it. I guess I like her? 
So . . . yeah? Altogether it’s a pretty good book that I guess I’d recommend. I am likely to read more King in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Grief

xreadingwithdemi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

writingcaia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

Wow loved it!
There were some slow moments here and there but wow SK knows how to tell a horror story like no one and his characters are always so believable.
This not really a story about a haunted hotel, although it is, but about a broken family with a traumatised alcoholic father and a special child, one to be used the other to be coveted by it.
There’s a lot of suspense and mind games, and only towards the end does it get really brutal.
What a ride. I’m glad I still read it even though I was familiar with the story from the movie, but as always, the book is way better!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

m_hates_reading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

3/5 meh.
Took me over a month to get through, which isn’t exactly the book’s fault, but it’s not a plus either.
Again with Stephen King, I think there’s a lot of stuff towards the start that could have just not been there.

Really hated the way Wendy was written, but that’s nothing new with King. 

I would have liked more focus on Danny than Jack; I get that the idea is you’re following the antagonist, and your meant to watch him loose his mind piece by piece, but it just rly wasn’t doing it for me. I just wasn’t invested in Jack’s story; possibly bc I already (more or less) knew the ending, but I think a good book is one you can know the ending to and still enjoy. 

It wasn’t bad, there were things I liked. I probably would have liked the book better if there was more straight-up horror from Danny and Wendy’s perspectives (217, the fire hose, the elevator…) but again, I appreciate that’s not what King was going for with the book - he was looking for reality. “Would Jack still have done it if not for the Overlook? Was he really possessed or had he finally just snapped?”. But honestly I couldn’t care less. 
Not my favourite concept wise, and I know for an absolute fact King can and has written better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Car accident, Blood, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

1.5

Tldr; King is blatantly misogynistic and racist in this one, I don’t fucking care if it’s a classic.

Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/the-shining/.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

jazzjhg's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts