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hanreadin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest, and Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
cinderrunner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
There are some good things about this book, but the bad significantly outweigh them. This is one of the most needlessly offensive and problematic books i have ever read. The only thing horrifying about this novel is that King had the audacity to include so much needless hatred and is still being praised for it. The level of racism, sexism, pedophilia/sexualization of minors, anti semitisim, etc is FAR beyond anything that is warranted by the plot and its honestly inexcusable. If you took a shot everytime King used the N word with a hard R, you'd die of alcohol poisoning somewhere between the one third and halfway mark. King is constantly using language and scenarios that sexualize Beverly, constantly mentioning the way her 12 year old body is maturing, painting her as a (and im quoting here) "whore" from almost every chatacters POV. Shes even sexualized in her own POVs.
It is also overlong, it could have easily been 400 pages shorter than it was. It dragged on and on. It doesnt genuinely pick up or reach a true climax til around page 950 (in my edition) so like 150 pages away from the end. That's ridiculous. King is constantly overloading the book with lore building and exposition that really isnt needed past a certain point. It took me 4 months of on and off reading to finally get through this thing. Ive never taken more than a month to read a book, even dense ones like the entire Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series, in my adult life.
Most people I have seen, even those who praise this book, don't count this as a book they would ever reread. If that's not a red flag i don't know what is. I cant think of a single book, even thick and complex ones, that i loved and wouldn't pick up again.
PROS: King is a genuinely skilled writer on a technical level and the book is well crafted. There are very thoughtful and interesting themes around childhood vs adulthood, the transition between the two, and the power of faith/belief. It really could have been a gorgeous novel if he leaned more into that earlier in the book and cut down on all the unnecessary bigotry and lore building. I likely would have loved this if it was shorter and less hate filled.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
The whole book is a trigger warning. It is full of violence, GRAPHIC bigotry, and the sexualization of women and especially minors.chelseachips's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
bahyreads's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
gayla's review against another edition
1.0
Finally, the end just does not make sense at all. King was definitely high out of his mind when he wrote this. The whole book felt like an excuse for King to write all of his sickest thoughts into a poorly executed story.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism
ajeanx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism
Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, and Suicide
Content warning for just about everything imaginable... I mean it.yeuniversse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Incest and Pedophilia
kriszh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Blood
Moderate: Incest, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Stalking
ryuk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Antisemitism
gemmawelton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So this was a tough read for me. I started it last year and got to about 600 pages in before it lost me, and honestly I felt the same struggle to read it this time as then.
I’m not going to comment on just how deeply disturbing this book is, because I do understand that that is the entire point of this book - it’s a horror. You’re not going to get flowers and rainbows.
But I am going to single out the extreme emphasis on child sexuality.
I skipped the scene with all the losers at the end of the book, when they’re trying to get out of the sewers and apparently all have to have sex with Beverly because there’s NO OTHER WAY to resolve it AT ALL, because it literally felt too close to child p*rnography and it made me feel sick.
My second point on this subject is the encounter between Patrick and Henry in the junkyard. They’re twelve. Just because they are bullies/murderers doesn’t diminish that, and I’m not entirely sure why Stephen king included this as I don’t think it actually furthered the plot at all, it just drew more attention to the tones of homophobia.
My third point regarding this is the general theme throughout the book - all of the loser’s experience a ‘s*xual stirring’ when around Beverly or any of the girls who are mentioned in the book and Beverly herself expressed the same feelings a couple of times, one of which is in the junkyard. There’s also the fact that a few times there are mentions of children turning up dead with their s*xual organs mutilated or completely gone.
Edit: just a quick fourth point, the scene between Beverly and her father when he asked to ‘check’ she was still a virgin.
Another thing I wanted to touch on was the amount of homophobia featured in this book. Again, I understand that this was meant to contribute to the theme of the book and of Derry, and there is the whole different eras argument, but I also feel like it cropped up more often than was ‘relevant’ to the plot. I’m not even sure how it was actually relevant, it didn’t really have a lot of influence over the plot, and unlike the films, we didn’t get any characters that were part of the LGBTQ+ community (aside from Adrian and Don (I think)).
I know that Stephen king himself and a some people who are devoted to this storyline have defended these choices, with king citing that times have changed and it’s different millennia, but this was written in the ‘80’s. It wasn’t ok then, it’s not ok now, and it never will be ok.
I’ve seen people say that the scene in the sewers between the losers was each of the boys showing they’re love for her and Beverly herself reclaiming her self/‘sexuality’ after what happened with her father, but there were plenty of other ways for the boys to show they loved her, in fact they did throughout the book multiple times, and Beverly was 11. You can’t tell me she was even fully aware of what exactly sexuality is, let alone that this was the best way to reclaim it.
Overall, I’m not sure this will be something I pick up to read often, if again, and if I do it would probably be just to skim through some parts rather than have an actual read of it. If I get the urge for a story with an awesome bunch of kids who defeat a murderous otherworldly clown, I’ll watch the films as I feel they did the story and the characters much better.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, and Police brutality
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Car accident