Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Schlaflos [Insomnia] by Stephen King

7 reviews

sc0ttmcfly's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism

theimposter's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny reflective tense medium-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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Lesbophobia

djham71's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail

lugosi147's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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For a Stephen King book that is a Dark Tower book in all but name, it’s shockingly diverse, and the amount of inappropriate boners and sexual moments is under 10 (popping a boner at the nice neighbour giving you a hug is about as bad as it gets) which for a King book? That’s a miracle in itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Alcohol

-Does the dog die? Yes. -No sexual assault or sex scenes, erections are described -Abortion is the centre of the story, from the view point of a 70 year old man. He never expresses an opinion but wishes everyone wouldn’t “be so shrill” about it. Narrative leans towards pro-choice, but is very nuanced with the different discussions characters have about the subject. This was published the same year (1993) that Maine (King’s state) passed a law that legalised abortions.

maclunkeyy's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I really enjoyed this book. It's a very long, very dense, and very conceptual story. I found myself wishing it would just be over at times, but it always managed to pull me back in and keep me invested. 

The emotional aspects of this book hit me pretty hard, and I found the story of Ralph and the other old-timers very unique and interesting. The ending was beautiful, and definitely touched my heart (especially that

handshake between Ralph and Clotho/Lachesis

. Ralph reflecting on

Carolyn's death in the hospital

ruined me; the line about his metaphors falling away and the inability to explain his deep grief was very raw and painful to read. 

The themes of this book felt unique and well explored. Abortion rights and the fighting between 'Pro-Choicers' and 'Pro-Lifers' is, sadly, still relevant today. Abortion was used as a metaphor a few times during the plot, and felt appropriate and well used. I felt King did well exploring both sides of the issue in a fair and even manner.

The imagery of the auras was beatiful and well done, and built a wonderful and unique backdrop for the story. Big fan of Derry as the setting as well, and the small references to IT and even Pet Semetary.

This book is great, but I feel it should really only be read by people also reading the Dark Tower series. It seemed a little complicated and maybe baseless without prior knowledge of the universe. I read this book years ago, before starting the Dark Tower series. The stakes felt low during that read through, and the climax wasn't really that satisfying. This time around, I felt differently.

Spoilers for the Dark Tower series:

I think the book does a great job explaining the purpose of the Dark Tower, and I'm excited to see how the ending of Insomnia impacts Roland and his ka-tet. There is some fantastic worldbuilding present in Insomnia, and I feel that I understand a lot of complex moving parts in the backdrop of King's universe now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder

Minor: Infertility

fdr69's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy

lavendercayde's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Torture