Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Firestarter by Stephen King

4 reviews

scip's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Gore, Suicide, Excrement

Minor: Body shaming, Antisemitism

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

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide

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

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

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

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Pedophilia

Minor: Homophobia