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zakcebulski's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
Well, I finally finished this book. This book and I have a long and sordid history, unfortunately. I picked this one up years ago when I wanted to get in to reading Stephen King's works, and figured that one of his most classis books would do well to get me in to his bibliography.
Holy hell was I wrong. Before going further allow me to say that I felt like I liked this book more than I thought I would, but not as much as I hoped to.
Starting out with the less than positive parts of this book, for my two cents...
I don't know whether I have a complete lack of empathy but, I found that every time there was familial or marital strife within this book, I found myself urging the plot to move the fuck on. I think a big problem is that I just object to Louis Creed as a character- I don't like him at all. That sucks because he is the protagonist, after all, and, to have him be so fucking annoying makes the read carry an air of annoyance throughout.
I found Louis to be very akin to Paul from Misery wherein I was only rooting for him because he was the conduit by which the story was unveiled. I did not like Louis throughout the book, and I think that that hindered my enjoyment in a big way.
I also felt that the last leg of the adventure was... very fast- to the point where it came off, to me at least, like King needed to finish the book ASAP. It felt like it was very compressed. The first trip to the Burial Grounds was so well done, it was so vivid, and spooky, with a nice air of tension throughout. But, when Louis takes Gage there it is like he is speedrunning it. The atmosphere of this book is exquisite, and the fact that it was blown by is admittedly disappointing.
And then, the final confrontation with Gage and Louis was so fast that I truly didn't even feel a threat from Gage's reanimated corpse. It was, absolutely, very stomach churning to realize the fight was between a father and his reanimated son after the son had just killed his mother and an old man, but, the fight boils down to Louis killing Gage again, with a few massive shots of morphine. It just seemed like it was rushed and didn't have a totally satisfying conclusion.
Lastly, and this is just a nitpick on my end. Stephen King's sexual dialogue has never been a strong suit, but, good Christ- "Let's see if you taste as good as you look"? Please... please stop. Please for the love of all that is good and holy... please...
Now, to the parts that I did like about this book.
I loved and I mean loved Rachel, Jud Crandall, as well as Ellie. I thought that these were all fantastically realized characters, characters who I was genuinely interested in.
I have no qualms about saying that these characters may in fact be some of my favorites within all of the SK books which I have read.
I thought that the implications behind Ellie's visions and the potential to tie them in with the Shining was fantastic. I appreciated very much how King wrote Ellie to be a stand in for what likely would have been most people's experiences with learning about death. I think that Ellie's youthful curiosity is well written, and her confusion but desire to understand the cycle of life and death is endearing and very reminiscent of my own.
I thought that Jud was the best. I loved Jud's character from his lax persona, to his accent, to his knowledge that older people just accrue through existing. Jud is a person that most people know, and, the fact that he seemed like such a realistic person is a testament to King's ability as a writer. Jud is easily a top 10 SK character for me, I loved reading his backstory and the gradual reveal that he knows more than he lets on about the Burial Grounds.
Lastly, I want to talk about Rachel's character. I thought that she was an allegory for undealt with trauma. I thought that her reaction to death in such a vociferous way was a textbook reaction where you don't know how to deal with something, and so you lash out. This is such a sad portrayal, but, I also found it very raw, and honest. I found Rachel's portrayal to be so well articulated where you can feel her terror that comes from a place in her youth where trauma is not dealt with and metastasizes into something unable to be controlled.
The exhumation of Gage was stomach churning when you think about what is really happening. A father is exhuming his son to rebury him in the hopes that he will come back to life and be who he was. This is heartbreaking. The fact that it obviously doesn't work and Louis is forced to kill his son, again and then is forced to deal with the grief and soul- dampening heartbreak of having been the reason his wife died is tragic. The fact that the cycle continues is horrifying, and it feels like it is the manifestation of evil consuming cancerously the people who are bedeviled by grief.
I thought that above all, the best part of this book is regarding the implications that so many things have. Are the lights that the people see when going to the Burial Grounds the Wendigo? Are they the Deadlights? Is the psychic/ clairvoyance related to the Shine, or is it just the Burial Grounds exhibiting its force on to the people who it can influence?
I think that this is one of those King books that I didn't immediately love, but, if I were to give it a read over, I would likely like it a lot more.
I still prefer books like Salem's Lot and The Shining but, I thought that this was a solid read, and one that I think has a great deal of substance to gain from subsequent re-reads.
Sometimes dead is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
brady_ish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
aoifsdarcy's review
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness and Death of parent
becca_w_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Car accident, and War
zoebill96's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
ogik's review
challenging
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
georgia6883's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
afelice's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
When I started my research into which horror novels - King specifically - would be best to read, “Pet Semetary” came up in almost every list. After finishing the book, I can see why it’s at the top of everyone’s list. This book was….dark. It was scary, but not in the way I expected. It was emotional and it was sad. I follow a reviewer on YouTube and he mentioned how he read PS as a 15year old and then again as an adult with children and he mentioned it was terrifying at both readings for different reasons and that makes so much sense. As someone without kids, the lore and the “beings” in this book can be terrifying, but as someone who is around kids a lot, I can see how it’s even more terrifying given what events transpire in parts 2 and 3.
I will say that the first part is kind of slow and is really focused on character development and building the mystery behind the Pet Semetary and the beings that may be around the surrounding woods; however, part 2 and 3 take off and you are pretty much white knuckling it the rest of the way.
Outstanding read! Also….I read about half of the book on my own and listened to half in audio book form and I cannot recommend the audio book enough. Michael C. Hall does an amazing job narrating the story - he really added to the overall atmosphere. 5/5 AWESOME!
I will say that the first part is kind of slow and is really focused on character development and building the mystery behind the Pet Semetary and the beings that may be around the surrounding woods; however, part 2 and 3 take off and you are pretty much white knuckling it the rest of the way.
Outstanding read! Also….I read about half of the book on my own and listened to half in audio book form and I cannot recommend the audio book enough. Michael C. Hall does an amazing job narrating the story - he really added to the overall atmosphere. 5/5 AWESOME!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
jonsnowsmanbun's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent
bvego's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent