Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

It by Stephen King

214 reviews

shannonleestrouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Blood, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Gore, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Self harm, Animal death, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse

sommarborne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Cursing, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Incest, Infidelity, Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Homophobia, Drug use, and Rape

karinavenice's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Racism, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction and Grief

esskaysquared's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This is my first Stephen King book since I read Pet Sematary in middle school and was just way too scared by it. Having seen both the TV miniseries and the more recent movies, I was able to really focus on the storytelling rather than the scares. 

That said, I don't think I've ever read a longer book and finishing it left me exhausted! At a certain point reading felt like a chore, although some sections were really thrilling and moved quickly.

I would have given a higher rating (4 or 4.25), but I wasn't really prepared for all the racial slurs and racist stereotypes/impressions/jokes, and it really majorly detracted from my enjoyment in reading the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism, Fatphobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Ableism, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

chadconnecticut's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Two things about this book are true: that something being popular does not preclude it from being good, and that SK was deep in his cocaine years when this book was written, and it shows. 

There are moments of brilliance. King’s prose is lush and evocative, and his examinations of fear and coming of age are beautiful, haunting, and sad. The violence is gripping; the horror is affecting. 

Is the book too long by at least 300 pages? Absolutely. Is Richie Tozier a tough character to read from a contemporary lens (especially in an audiobook)? Of course. But the DNA of modern horror can be found all over this book, and the literary landscape wouldn’t be the same without it. 

I doubt I’ll read it a second time, but my perspective on the horror canon has been enriched for having read it. King is good. This book is good. The Scene That Will Never Make It Into Adaptations is…a choice that I wouldn’t make personally, nor do I think it would hold up in contemporary fiction, but in the context of both the narrative and the time in which it was written, it wasn’t as jarring and awful as I expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Bullying, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, and Animal death

drone232's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is an epic of horror literature. It is about a group of children going up against the ills of adult society which have manifested in the form of a horrifying and enjoyably malevolent monster. It is also about their adult selves as they try to remember their childhood and refind their childhood hopes and selves. Interspersed are narratives about a great many side characters and their woes. A deep and expansive work, bogged down by occasional instances of going over the line with the horror and sexism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Fatphobia, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Torture

shannolse's review against another edition

It started focusing more on the adults and I feel like I lost interest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Ableism, Bullying, Antisemitism, and Child death

luvxxly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was absolutely phenomenal.  The only reason it’s not getting a full 5 stars is because of the sheer amount of slurs throughout. There were moments reading when I just couldn’t get past them and I’d say that sort of harmed my reading experience just a bit. But overall, it was a wonderful read and I absolutely loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Racial slurs

tayloralexis9's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Bullying, Blood, and Antisemitism

sydgolt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

I loved it. Obviously the gross part when they were kids was vile and imo completely unnecessary. he wanted them to create some deep connection but that felt… wrong. i think that’s when they should’ve made the blood pact. i understand that horror tends to push boundaries to really evoke strong emotions in the readers but this was just not right. 

that being said i absolutely loved reading this book cover to cover. it was so captivating and intricately written, more so than the majority of books i’ve read. stephen king has easily become one of my favorite authors. i loved the characters and their friendships and how strong and unqiue each personality was. sometimes in books they over-develop the main character and under-develop the side characters but everyone got equal effort put into them which i really
appreciated. 

I’m so glad i read this book when i did cuz im starting the year with such a high point. this will definitely be in my top 5 as well!! 

5 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Suicide, Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Blood, Child death, Racism, Murder, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault