Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Stand

Dark, introspective, diverse and extremely well written, this massive novel may be seem to be daunting, but whatever the case, you’ll almost certainly finish faster than you think.

Content Warnings

julianam's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

aparizo704's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I chose an interesting time to read this, considering present society is battling a “super flu” of our own. I couldn’t help likening the first two parts to forebodings of Nostradamus

(Naturally, I don’t believe COVID was manufactured as a weapon of biowarfare and turned loose by the military

). I won’t gloss over King’s use of racial slurs and the novel’s nearly complete sanitization of non-White survivors from the plot (it’s glaringly obvious), but I will acknowledge the zeitgeist of the time the book was published (no surprises - this is our parents’s generation, after all). The character tropes that eventually manifest themselves act as devices to further along the plot - chiefly to serve the main protagonists, with little exploration of the personal development afforded to most of the founding Zone members. The point could be made about any PoC almost exclusively, but the same goes for Tom Cullen and Nick. Their “before” story, would have been as insightful as Frannie, Harold, Stu, and Larry - especially considering how key they were to saving every soul in Boulder. Despite how critical I appear, I appreciated the extended edition and can’t imagine reading this through without the sections cut from King’s original manuscript. It’s a worthy cautionary tale, which suggests the answer to a question about humanity I believe we know the truth of deep in our hearts, but continue to hope for despite our record on Earth. Hoping is as natural as breathing for us.

Content Warnings

a_robin_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

Listened to the audiobook from Storytel

Buddy read with Dutch book club

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Review:

Very good book
Enjoyed the audiobook a lot

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The stand by Stephen King. I'm listening to the audiobook for a buddy read with the Dutch book club I'm in.

It's okay so far. A lot of setting up. I do think the concept is interesting so far, so hope it will become more thrilling. I also hope I will connect with the characters soon.

It became more thrilling indeed! The characters were also good and I could connect with them. I think the story was very cool and very well set up. I loved the good and evil sides concept. I even think it wasn't too long. It was a bit slow sometimes, but those parts did a lot for character building or worldbuilding. I also think the villain in this is one of the best villains ever. I gave it 4 stars, because it wasn't perfect, but a good book nevertheless.

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Content Warnings

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