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11.1k reviews for:

Pet Sematary

Stephen King

4.01 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A'yuh
atomicbaby's profile picture

atomicbaby's review

4.25
dark emotional mysterious 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: Complicated
dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional mysterious
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Okay. I think I have a favourite Stephen King book, now. 

This was so good. It was tense and emotional and the characters were fascinating. It lacked the casual misogyny that irks me about a lot of King's books and is actually tense and scary! The misuse of Native American folklore is unfortunate but that's really my only criticism of the book. 

This story is grounded in emotion and has a tight focus and that pays off so well. You feel for the Creed family, for every single one of them, as the story unfolds. You root for them and cry for them and get so mad at them when they make certain choices. There's a reason King is an anchor of the genre -- he understands that the characters are the most important part of horror. I wish more modern horror writers could get this through their heads. 

If you're new to King, I'd say leave this one alone til you've been disappointed by his other stuff 🤣 I know his other stuff isn't gonna be as good as this, it won't raise my hopes too high. But if you're an intermediate King fan, I'd say this is perfect for you -- see what he can really do when he puts his mind to it! 
dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i love ellie
dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

So disturbing in the best way. The depiction of grief was so well done, it felt so real and raw that I could almost feel myself justifying and sympathizing with Louis’s actions… almost.
dark tense