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m0usey's review against another edition
- 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
Not only are the characters phenomenal, but the horror is amazing as well. The dread and confusion surrounding Pennywise is amazing, and the individual traumas of the losers (home lives, bullying, homophobia, etc) really add to that horror. At its heart, this book is about trauma and about love and about pain and about hope, and Pennywise is just the facilitator of some of that trauma.
Now I’m going to rant about this book with spoilers:
They grew up and forgot their friends and their hometown and forgot that they could be loved, that they were loved, and most of them self destructed for their entire adult life. And even after defeating Pennywise, even after killing It, they forgot again. All that love, all that hope, it was all washed away again. They forgot Eddie existed, they forgot they ever had anyone to grieve and remember for who he really was. They never got to meet adult Stan, and they never got to grieve that lack of knowing. Literally how am I supposed to deal with that.
This book is so fucking sad it’s insane. The losers were so, so loved, and they couldn’t remember any of that at all. And thats what make this book stand out to me, what makes it stick with me. It’s a tragedy and it hurts so much and I love it.
Anyway I love the stupid clown book.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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
kamirose1's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
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
ladev12's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
berd's review against another edition
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, and Antisemitism