Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

33 reviews

lmm0's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

This is the first Stephen King book I’ve read - I listened to a short story a couple weeks ago (2 hour audiobook), but besides that, I’m still a newcomer to his works. I decided to listen to the audiobook when one of the hosts of Book Talk etc said it was narrated by Michael C Hall - Dexter Morgan? Seriously? Sign me up.

I particularly liked that the author’s note was at the beginning, and it discussed how absolutely haunted King was by this book. To the point where he put it in a drawer when he was finished, seeming to be in disbelief with what he just wrote/completed. I felt like that hooked me before the chapter 1 even started. It truly holds a dark and twisted message - one that is sure to resonate deeply with those who are familiar with grief and loss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Suicidal thoughts

pholcidae's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

Aside from the casual racism (using outdated terms for Native American people and unnecessarily bringing people’s skin colour to attention), a near-flawless book.

The story is paced perfectly and I have been reading it nonstop. The author’s use of language to create suspense and terror is reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

This was my first King novel and I think it was the perfect one to start on! Very tense and lots of fun easter eggs in there :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Murder, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Cursing

Minor: Vomit, Cancer, War, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Excrement, Dementia, Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Religious bigotry

alixsbooktherapy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book had me needing therapy afterwards stephen king I'll see you at my next appointment, this book will have you questioning your decisions I now know why this known as his most frightening book I just wish it was more realistic like the cops would of showed up multiple times if this actually happened this book is not for the weak I buddy read this with Emily and holy I hope she's okay🤣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Blood, Child death, Vomit, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Body horror, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Grief, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail

nabaraditi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

 

pet sematary is considered as a horror book. But if i had to give a rating for horror then it'll be 2/10 because it didn't scare me like a typical horror book about ghost, something paranormal, supernatural, etc would have. For me, this book was about grief and also supernatural element but these two things could be considered as horror actually now that i think about it. Its about a family struggling to come to terms with death. I had grief counseling as a subject last term so i learnt a lot about complicated grief, normal grief, how grief becomes depression. Factors that affect how w grieve bc grieving is a very personal and an individual process. Not two people grieve the same loss. And this book shows that really well. How one person is ready to talk about grief while the other just wants to hide such things under the carpet.
Why do we grieve? Because we lost someone, right? But if we had a chance, we'd never want to lose them forever. What if you got a chance to get them back? what i loved the most is the metaphor: the place has a pull to make you do things.... like how grief can drive people to do things they would never normally consider.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

2.5

throughout majority of the book it dragged and i just felt like it was so long and then by the time the huge climax was happening at the end, i was too put off and literally queasy reading it. it was harrowing and depressing under the guise of ~spoooky~ ?? still a fan of the overall premise and how it leaves off though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

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

svnsn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

This has to have been one of the best books I've ever read. The way King built up the story and the characters leading up to the climax just makes complete sense. It wasn't an easy read, I'll say that. At times it was gut wrenchingly sad. I literally had a sinking feeling in my stomach at some points. Not many stories have been able to elicit such a reaction from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Death, and Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Blood

westernsunshine's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Cursing

Minor: Medical content and Suicidal thoughts

weirdodari's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

I’m not quite sure I understand why so many people say this is King’s scariest novel. I found it to be more sad than anything. A lot of this book focuses on themes of grief, hopelessness, and desperation. There’s some disturbing imagery in here but I see it as more of a compliment to the overwhelming feeling of loss that King is conveying here. Still a great book and it deserves the praise it gets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Medical content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Child death, and Death

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.