Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Institute by Stephen King

66 reviews

gold_star_reader's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Cursing, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Physical abuse, and Trafficking

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, and Torture

Minor: Racial slurs

sebnia_05's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Self harm, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Vomit

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

The Institute focuses on two stories. In the first Tim Jamieson an ex cop who was let go due to a reckless decision and ends up hitch hiking to a small town in South Carolina. He decides to stay a while as both a night knocker and an unloader at the train station, and gets to know the town. In the second, Luke Ellis is a very intelligent 12-year-old boy about to attend both MIT and Emerson. But in the middle of the night he is kidnapped and taken to The Institute a place that doesn't care about his intelligence, only about his minor telekinetic ability. All the kids here are used and abused, but the employees have gotten a little lax. It will take everything look has to be able to escape. 

I think Stephen King really excels when he writes stories about children. His stories with adolescent teen boys are some of the most compelling and well written. The story doesn't have the normal tendency to go off the rails but is a great analysis of power and what those who have too much of it choose to do with it. Stories where "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" are where King shines the most, the absolute horror of having zero power and control in a situation reaches into some deep fear inside of us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Death, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, and Cursing

Moderate: Racial slurs, Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Racism, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Ableism

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

the book was good but i would’ve chosen someone other than santino fontana to narrate it. idk i think he’s great in general but i didn’t vibe with his narration

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Terminal illness, Torture, Medical trauma, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Bullying

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Cancer, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Racism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Excrement, Car accident, Drug abuse, and War

readinglibraesq's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Death

ilmariel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

mo_bees's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Confinement, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Medical content

bookishchaos's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Eerily similar to Stranger Things, but still a good story. About 100 pages too long tho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Confinement

Minor: Gun violence

koberreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

 

 

Stephen King... You son of a gun. 

King got me good damn it. Got me so good 

 

Short review: 

(This is a good novel about children, although mentions sex and short scenes of adults about to do sex, no actual sex happens even the underage sex. I prefer horror/adventure novels of his without the abrupt, almost unbearably disturbing sex. So read this if you don't like those scenes as well.) 

 

The book description says it all but I don't think all the mystery and unexpectedness is gone just because you read it. I don't know truly shit what's gonna happen here while I read it. And each character especially the children has unique voices of their own. It amazes me how he can create characters that are literally gaps away from his actual age. 

 

Read it and get enriched by it 

 

 

Long review: 

To be frank, this is the first novel I read by Stephen King but the work that I read him first was his memoir “On Writing” and I loved it and loved Stephen King for writing such, I felt he is the most humane unexpectedly one of them, not only creative but loving and hardworking man, I ever read about (I did expect much because I thought he is pretty odd or even evil to write about “darkness” of human nature and I thought he just writes to sell “fear”. It is more than that 

 

This novel though is not horror but brings more of what Stephen King is. A person who writes not just to sell stuff, get money or get famous but rather to enrich one life and to see things from a different perspective through the characters 

 

 

I like the last part. Even though it explains some unexpected concepts.. it still rings true.. no one can predict the future exactly or know that it will happen with certainty... there are too many variables. But it does make me question still if the precog can predict the future. Made me feel like Luke, knows the certainty of the math but still doubts himself regardless. Stephen King is smarter than he has ever shown himself in public or his writings. And yes I am too attached to Kalisha and I am not even a white boy who has an attraction to the opposite skin colour. I am Asian and in my eyes Kailsha is both awesome, brave, beautiful and so precious. I wished she chose Luke.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

fuathling's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

King knows how to write a story. Fleshy characters. Tasty plot. And a good full-circle roundhouse kick to the chest at the end. Just the way I like it. Mwah. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Torture, Gun violence, and Violence

Minor: Racial slurs