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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed Stephen King's writing here. But I'd probably enjoy it more if it was in a different story/book. I know it's unfair to compare books and to rate it for what it isn't, but since BR Yeager's [book:Negative Space|52028992], I can't read distraught teenagers as seriously as I did before. Negative Space was just so well done. Maybe this book was just dated? the puritanical attitudes towards sex makes it feel that way, the overall discussion the book was trying to have wasn't as dated but still feels that way.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yikes, this was a tough read but I'm glad I was able to get my hands on it. It wasn't quite as dark as I was expecting, but the compassion you feel towards the shooter and the "kumbaya" feel the classroom shares, explains why the book needed to be pulled from print. My only issue with this story is that Charlie Decker was charged with insanity, which is not how the insanity plea works - he was clearly in the right frame of mine, albeit completely unreasonable. And of course there was the traditional overly specific description of girls bodies which King is all too well known for... Other than that it was a decent read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
medium-paced
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense