Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Stand by Stephen King

19 reviews

ladawson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, War, Body shaming, Mental illness, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

aparizo704's review against another edition

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

Graphic: Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Ableism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cursing, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Death of parent, Child death, and Drug abuse

littlemissgemreads's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

tatitos's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

dont_stop_meow's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

How has Stephen King not been cancelled? I don't agree with cancel culture, but in today's culture, how has  Stephen King not been called out for the sheer number of blatant n words he uses? I'm baffled that nobody has cried out for this book to be removed from shelves, not just for the use of racial slurs, but also of homophobic terminologies. 
This will be the last Stephen King book I'm tempted to read. He's gross and I'm done with him.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence

kryan1's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Gore, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Drug use, Child death, and Child abuse

cinnamonpizza8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

1/12/2021: This book was good, I'm still letting it sink in so I haven't decided if it has eclipsed It as my favorite Stephen King novel. King gives incredible world-building, manages many complex characters, and layers a multi-level, intertwined journey-focused novel that blew my mind at parts and seemed unnecessarily uncomfortable at other parts. It is the perfect book to be reading right now if you would like to be unsettled about the state of the world and ponder how good versus evil influences the structure of society. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

sparky_young_upstart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide