Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Institute by Stephen King

90 reviews

farrington's review against another edition

dark sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Confinement, and Physical abuse

thebookesquire's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-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

4.25

8.75/10. This pulled me in from the very first chapter.  I listened to it on audiobook and for three days I could do nothing else but listen to it.  The characters are distinctive and endearing. They carve themselves right into your little heart and suddenly you can’t quite breathe when something bad happens to them in the book. The story is incredible, it keeps you guessing and leaves you at the absolute edge of your seat. It’s books like this that define why Stephen King is such a formative writer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Physical abuse, and Child death

horrorhomebodies's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Stephen King’s ability to write a simple sentence with a plethora of meaning is absolutely brilliant. I gave 4.25 stars because the ending was a bit lackluster for my taste, but still warmed my heart enough to earn the .25 of the rating. I wish there had been a bit more of an insight into the characters backstory, but overall it was an enticing read. It really made me think beyond the scope of fiction, which is a large part of why I loved The Institute. Well worth the read in my opinion!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Suicide

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death of parent, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Death of parent

bethboo'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

4.5

Wowzzaaaa this was a good book!! 
I fell in love with the main character. I feel like the author did well with the POV of a child and reminding us that even though Luke's a genius he doesn't know everything. The story was fascinating and well paced. I definitely cried at least 4 times. I'm just sensitive to kid trauma. A criticism I do have that didn't really affect my rating for it was the dialogue. It felt kind of cheesy and unrealistic, especially for kids. Used a lot of idioms and colloquial sayings, too many. It made conversations more interesting but people don't talk like that in real life. 
I also wouldn't consider this book Horror, more likely Dark Fiction or Psychological Thriller or something like that. 

Parts that absolutely killed me:
-When Luke said that someone upstairs must like him (because some lucky things lined up for him) but thought of his dead parents and thought that they must not like him enough
-When Maureen says she chose Luke over everyone else 
-When Tim told the kids that the world wasn't their responsibility
-When Tim hugged Nick

Two reasons that the book isn't 5 star: 
1- Stephen King is so fucking weird with the female children. He has to describe their prepubescent bodies in the weirdest creepiest ways. I do not feel comfortable with the way he treated the children characters that were girls. 
2- The ending wasn't super satisfying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

tilde_c_s's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Torture

Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

hilarylouise's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Child death, Medical trauma, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Vomit, and Violence

jlene's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, and Violence