Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

‘Salem's Lot by Stephen King

59 reviews

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I thought the town and the characters within the town were fascinating. With that said, the main character was bland… and this book was wayyyy too long. I loved Dracula so I had a bit of hope. This book isn’t terrible, but it definitely isn’t the bed vampire read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Vomit and War

Just assume this book has it all.

alexashabit's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Rape

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

I'm a fan of the few Stephen King adaptations I've seen, but this was my first time reading him. He has a very prominent reputation positive and negative, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It ended up a pretty mixed bag. 

I enjoyed the plot and—while at times meandering—his prose was great. I liked the focus on classic vampire lore and how it connects to the characters' tenets of literature and religion in the modern world. But there were things that bogged it down as well. 

To start, there were so many characters referenced it felt like I was expected to learn the names and personalities of the entire town. I liked the main players, and thankfully I got over the confusion once the plot got going and focused more on them. There were a couple relevant female characters, but I wish they had a larger role in the story overall. And of course the casual use of homophobic slurs/mentions of rape/slut shaming really date the book. And I honestly expected it to be scarier. 

I'd heard about his lackluster endings more than once, but I quite enjoyed this one. I thought it worked for the story being told, if a bit simply. And I know horror endings are though to land. 

Overall a good book with flaws. I'm definitely willing to try more of his work, so if anyone has suggestions of where to start, please feel free. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Homophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, and Blood

carrionkid's review against another edition

4.0

I actually liked this book a lot however it definitely was written in 2 different periods of time because in the first half, there's 7 uses of queer/queerboy and 6 uses of fag/faggot and by page 300 there are NO SLURS WHATSOEVER so I guess Stephen king had a moral crisis about using slurs somewhere in between halves of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

leah_j's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.0

solidly did not enjoy this book whether it was his writing style or what; i found it was incredibly boring in between action parts and it made me lose any sense of tension that had been built up. also did not enjoy some of the themes in it so check TWs

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

rosiecake666's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

I loved the characters and plot of this. Stephen King is one of my fave authors so I love majority of his works. This has to be one of the best gothic vampire horrors I've read in a while 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism and Homophobia

barrybj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.25

Usually I find Stephen king books a little slow to get into but the ending makes it all worth while. With Salem's Lot, I actually preferred the beginning. I loved reading about the characters and their small town lives in the 70's. I thought it was beautifully written and I would have been happy to read more about their day to day activities. Once shit started to hit the fan, I was interested but I never found myself feeling very afraid or surprised at any point which is why I didn't give it a higher rating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

There's a dog deaty that some may find upsetting. A lot of people die but many are "off camera deaths" so overall this book isn't too explicit. There's a couple sex scenes but they aren't really graphic.

laurenkristine's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

avasweet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

A satisfying book about vampires, with all the fixings (just like you imagined them as a kid). Great if you like mysterious books about small towns, or indulging your inner child. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

A bit racist at times, a bit homophobic-- product of its time and also reflecting the small-town ideologies of the people living in "the lot"