Reviews with content warning for Racism - Fire Starter

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Fire Starter by Stephen King

21 reviews

skittle52's review against another edition

4.5

dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Complicated

An aspect of King's writing that I find truly remarkable not just in this novel but within his entire body of work is the presence of hope even when the story is at its darkest. This and the prevalence of kind people in stories about the worst of humanity means I (almost) always leave a Stephen King novel shaken up yet, overall, hopeful. Firestarter is no exception.

In addition, Firestarter expertly grounds even its most extreme supernatural elements in a way that makes them feel scientifically possible without the use of overbearing exposition.

Content Warnings

mahtab_eb's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

flamesocks's review against another edition

2.75

slow-paced

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

Content Warnings

monia_czyta's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mareltor's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

With government conspiracies, supernatural abilities, and moments of pure horror, Firestarter is a slow burn - until it explodes.

One thing I always appreciate about Stephen King’s writing is his ability to show perspectives from both the “good” and “bad” sides, adding depth to the story. Though Firestarter isn’t considered a horror novel, it still contains eerie, dark, and even gory moments that bring a strong horror influence into the narrative.

The characters weren’t always likable, but they were consistently interesting, which kept me invested. However, the ending left me wanting more. I usually don’t mind open endings, but in this case, I struggled to see how the proposed solution could realistically play out. Maybe that ambiguity is the point, but I still would have liked a bit more closure. Overall, I’d give Firestarter 3 out of 5 stars.

Content Warnings

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

3.5

Content Warnings

hyacinthed's review against another edition

2.5

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

Complicated feelings on this one.

Strengths:

Strong worldbuilding (as always)
Great structure
Solid development of Charlie/decent development of Andy
Dude putting on lingerie and jerking it to a garbage disposal. Lit.

Difficulties:

Literally everything relating to Rainbird. The overt racism in his characterisation (yes it was the '80s, no it has not aged well), the literal pedophilic overtones of how he thinks and speaks about Charlie.
The homophobia sprinkled throughout.
The constant fat-shaming of Andy after he blows up on thorazine (we get it, he's fat, you don't have to remind us once a page).
The lack of resolution of Vicky's death - I was hoping for some kind of reconciliation/closure.

Content Warnings

_deathcrush_'s review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I've had this book on my shelf for so long and I finally read it! I was debating whether to give it a 4.5 or a 5 star, but I did really love Andy and Charlie, so 5 it is :))

Content Warnings