Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Carrie by Stephen King

35 reviews

taviarz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Idk if I’ll ever be able to give a King book 5 stars because of the amount of slurs he uses unnecessary. That aside I’m very worried about people who say that this is a “good for her” book. It’s a tragedy and I feel sympathy for Carrie but

killing all of your classmates for revenge is definitely school shooter energy, please get help.

other than that it’s a pretty normal Stephen King book. The way Margaret and Misery were written were almost exactly the same. And he really cannot write convincing dialogue for women. But at the end of the day he’s able to pull you in and tell a good story so what can I say.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racism, Murder, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Bullying, Mental illness, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

sylvester749's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 king's writing style was there from the get go (if you ignore the many other non-published non-novel writing he did before this), and its interesting to see how confident his prose is right away (including his less than savory ways of describing people). really liked the epistolary structure of it - the build up to the actual event was incredibly tense and well paced, especially since it lived up to the hype. overall very strong, very sad, and very engrossing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

Moderate: Rape, Car accident, Sexism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief

macabrebookwitch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

I haven’t read really any horror novels before, so thus begins my goal of reading every stephen king book in release order. As it’s the first book, I was a little underwhelmed. I also didn’t expect to feel so bad for Carrie,

honestly like getting me to think the town deserved it. Or at least, her bullies and mother did.

I want to watch the movies now, but I’m cutting King some slack since I know its the first one. The religious trauma is strong in this one. I also feel like there are some questionable phrases and themes in this book (although I know it takes place and was written in the 70s, its not much excuse). But I trek ever onward through King’s bibliography. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Abortion, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

heyfernance's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I love Carrie, this book saved me in highschool. Unfortunately it's peppered with unnecessary racial slurs and strange misogynistic asides. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Bullying, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

guivx5's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Imagine starting your writer career with a book that defines a genre?

This is King's first book I've read (and I didn't know it was his first book written before picking it!), and it already sets some high standards for him, for I thought this was a brilliant experience. This is a 200-ish page that covers a multitude of topics with good balance: from bullying, abuse, childhood trauma to telekinetic powers and even scientific negligence (Like, God, how can you be THIS creative for a single story?). "Carrie" brings a lot to the table and does it well.

Perhaps what made me 5-star this one is how King uses horror and suspense, genres that are so saturated with cheap jumpscares and generic demonic creatures, to build a complex character such as Carrie. Her ultrareligious mother, her socially-reproved appearance, the lack of any happiness in her life... She's got you hooked even before you know about her powers. The uniqueness of her situation, and at the same time the ways we can relate to the problems, is truly something I haven't seen in a book character in a long time. She seems very real (Not only her, but the entire cast of characters here). Her powers are an amazing twist to the narrative as much as they are a metaphor for her anger. The rise of her telekinesis is, ultimately, her downfall. The amount of symbolism mixed to the tragedy here is astonishing.

I have a feeling that King could say he hangs out with aliens every saturday night for a poker game and I would just believe it. Intentional or not, "Carrie" pokes on uncomfortable subjects. It makes us wonder: how is one supposed to go through life facing so much hate without exploding? And if they do... can we really blame them?

On another note, I'll start training my cousin to see if she can lift objects.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Bullying, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Miscarriage

autisticmisabel's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Excrement, Alcohol, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Car accident, and Sexual content

Minor: Chronic illness and Toxic relationship

katdotniche's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Given the reputation both Stephen King and Carrie have, I was expecting the book to be much more horror-filled; it seemed quite tame in comparison to my expectations, and I don’t know if that is because I was anticipating something much more like IT, or if it was because I sympathised so heavily with Carrie. 

There was of course horrifying parts, including the prom and the aftermath – the image of a girl covered in pig’s blood going on a revengeful rampage is about as horror as you can get, and that’s before you take into account the telepathic broadcast Carrie gave to the entire town, letting them know who she was and why she was doing it. I loved the insight into her thought process through other people’s testimonies of that night, it was the one thing that really made me think it was a horror novel. I suppose it was King’s first published novel and therefore does not have the characteristics he developed in his work, but it did disappoint me. Perhaps if I had read this book when I was younger, the horror aspects would have stood out to me more but reading it now I was more focused on the symbolism King manages to pack into the narrative.

In particular, I enjoyed the contrast between Carrie who is implicitly an avenging angel, come to punish the town for their crimes, and her mother who is a perfect example of religion when it ceases to be religious and transforms into fanaticism. Despite being written in the 70s, it has many observations on religious trauma and abuse that are still applicable today- perhaps that is a little sad, that this is still something that people experience, nearly 50 years later, but I think it says a lot about King’s ability as a writer and his understanding of society that he manages to keep his work relevant so far on.

His use of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books is another thing that stood out to me from the book; the transcripts from the White Commission were incredibly clever as a narrative device – when Carrie is the leading force of the novel, with everything following her perspective, albeit in third person, the careful input from the other characters and the way it illuminates their perspective and understanding of the events is a chilling cut away from her carefully logical rampage. Using these to push the character of Sue Snell was one of my favourite parts.

 
I enjoyed the first person insight into her retrospective perspective, the quiet acceptance of the events that shone through her words, and it was interesting to see how the perspective had changed in the years since the event happened when comparing her transcript to her own writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Child abuse

Moderate: Misogyny

planetshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

This writing layout is strange and dense, and I can't decide whether I like it.

I’m always upset when I think about Carrie. Her experience on this planet was so fucked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Car accident, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Racial slurs

marthadude's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape

abrose2001's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It wasn't quite the dark and gritty horror that I was expecting. The main character is sympahtetic and tragic, making the entire book driven by her character, story, and development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Child abuse, and Misogyny