Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Institute by Stephen King

26 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I finished this in conjunction with the audiobook, reading the last 200+ pages in my physical copy and…King remains one of my favourite authors BUT this just wasn’t it for me. It felt a bit like he’d bitten off more than he could chew and the end was rushed with a resolution that could be described as shaky at best. I rated it as highly as I did because the final set piece was epic. It either needed to be expanded or drastically cut back. I can’t decide which. I will say though. The authors note at the end of my copy brought a wee tear to my eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Confinement, Cursing, Self harm, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Slavery

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

raelinton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The structure was a little strange, but the end packed an emotional punch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Medical content, Addiction, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and War

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

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

sydbingus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

samdalefox's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

This was a friend's choice for our book club. He's a big fan of Stephen King, whereas I find his works hit and miss. This was more miss than hit, not because it's a badly written book or not enjoyable, but because it's very much what to expect of this genre, there was nothing novel or surprising for me. If this story wasn't written by King, I don't think people would rave about it so much. The storyline is predictable and the writing is average. As with most of King's longer works it's adventurous and maybe has too much unecessary detail, but it's easy enough to read. 

I was drawn in at the start following Tim, then it flipped to follow the child protagonist Luke and it took me some time to reinvest. I'm not convinced making him a child genius actually helped serve the character and story themes, but acted more as a plot device so King could shoehorn in convenient facts that wouldn't come up organically otherwise. From the heavy referencing to Nazi concentration camps I suspect King is trying to introduce the same questions of horrors and amorality to a different audience (abuse of power, authority, utilitarianism, scientific advancement through non-consent etc.). The largest threat

that their torture was preventing the 'end of the world'

didn't land for me at all and was rushed/not adequately explored in my opinion. 

I'm sure King fans will love this, for more casual readers enjoy it for what it is; don't expect too much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

zoebill96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Drug abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Trafficking, and Vomit

ellagewerwhite's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, Drug use, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs