Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

14 reviews

lillowo's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.25

Tldr: if you're interested in Reading as much of King as possible, or some of the highlights of his writings, this could be a good book for you. I felt like it was very dated and the characters who we most engaged with were not the most enjoyable. The basis of the plot and the story are super cool, but I didn't feel like it was explored fully.

I totally understand why when this book came out it was really popular. It blends the hard conversations of talking about death with children and the horror of losing a child and really interesting ways. 

That being said, if you are not intending to read a King book because you want to read King's stuff, I would suggest the book How To Sell A Haunted House instead. I found there was a lot of dated language used (the r slur as a major example and ableism generally, the use of an "ancient indigenous burial ground" that brings people back to life), and the perspective of Louis that we got, felt like the idea of her King was looking at was grit and dark things to say to make it feel like a darker read. There were multiple comments that were just made offhandedly that gave the main character this air of being incredibly cynical but without much to back it up. I also felt like some of the through lines that were there weren't fully explored for the sake of

a darker ending. Two of the four family members die, and I brought back to life, and we had no real exploration after the initial moment of how do you talk about death with children.

 

I also felt like a lot of the logic that the characters explored in the book were very half-hearted at best.

the idea of exploring death through this cemetery that brings dead things back to life, is super interesting! I just don't think the logic that was used to explore the impact of it really made sense. Jud decided that it would be a good idea to bring a cat back to life because it's a way to teach kids about death and to make them less scared of the fact that people and creatures die because you just stop liking them. Which also to me felt like King did not really understand cats. Like at one point there's a line about how he's glad that cats are such independent creatures because no one notices that church is different. If my cat started acting like church, I would immediately know something is wrong. They are the snuggliest babies ever. As I was reading that line I had a cat begging for affection. They're also isn't much exploration of this mysticism around the burial ground. It's become a trope in my lifetime, but I don't know if it was a trope then. I do know that it felt very tropy and a mystical element that with the knowledge of the 20th century, felt gross and something that I intentionally distanced myself from on a cognitive level. I think there could be a lot of ways to explore a burial ground that brings people back to life that doesn't engage on tired and egregious tropes around mysticism of indigenous peoples practices.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Ableism, Sexism, and Murder

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I've owned this book for so long and I'm so glad that I finally read it. I can definitely see the appeal and I can see why people love this book so much, but it's definitely not one of my favorites. This is one of the only Stephen King books that I've read that I actually thought kinda dragged on, but I didn't mind it as much as 'Salem's Lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death

Minor: Ableism and Infidelity

jaimc's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Animal death, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Ableism, Confinement, Terminal illness, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

ddspirittt's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

It is the most expository, dull, and boring book I have ever read. I was thankful to avoid any and all plot points before picking this up, but it was so predictable! I got so excited to see where it would go because of that.

Then I read. And read. Read. And read. Read some more. Read. The end.

People keep recommending this as the "scariest" story by King. But if the emotional payoff or lack thereof is "scary" to some, then dear lord, go read some more. The action at the end was neither suspenseful nor emotional but laughable.

Part two could be interesting, but this was the biggest letdown and snoozefest of a book ever. I don't want to read King again because of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Murder, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, and Cursing

bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This isn't a book it's a depression machine. Jesus Christ Stephen. Incredible

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Addiction, Violence, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Infidelity

Louis says some ableist shit. You could interpret this as the author agreeing with that stuff, but since Louis is an asshole in other portions of the book too, I think it's just a symptom of the assholery.

aleesquer's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Ableism, and Colonisation

madamenovelist's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, Sexual content, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, and Car accident

Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism

Minor: Antisemitism

archaicgambit's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

The only Stephen King book I’ve ever read. Some passages were truly gripping. Others were clumsy and dated. There’s a lot of era-typical misogyny and racism in this. Found myself particularly fascinated by the airport scenes & other 80s references. The extended wizard of Oz symbolism was interesting too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Ableism, and Racism

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, and Sexism

murderofcrows's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Medical content, Car accident, Grief, Chronic illness, Blood, Child death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Cannibalism, Ableism, and Racism

kt2e56's review against another edition

dark fast-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

I’ve seen both movies before so I knew where everything was going to wind up but that didn’t ruin this experience all that much. This story is still horrifying. King does a great job of building dread throughout. Michael C. Hall was also an excellent narrator. I think where this loses a star for me is some of the usual King-isms.

It’s a little hard to take the big confrontation between Gage and Judd at the end seriously or find it terrifying when back-from-the-dead toddler Gage is taunting Judd by saying *checks notes* his wife used to cheat on him and loved taking it up the ass?

Yeah. Kinda kills an otherwise extremely tense moment. I also think Lewis kinda sucks at times. Refusing to get Church neutered because it felt like a slight against his own masculinity is just…lol. But anyway! Really solid book! I have kinda missed reading Stephen King. Maybe I’ll read and reread some more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Gore, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal death, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Racism