Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - It

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

It by Stephen King

134 reviews

dkonstanzer's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.75

The plot and characters are great, but the book itself (similar to many of King’s other works) is extremely slow-paced to the point of dragging on unnecessarily. The length allows for a great in-depth exploration of the characters, but there are certainly scenes that stretch longer than needed and add little to the plot. There is also something to be said about the author’s portrayal of women—this is a critique often heard when discussing Stephen King’s works, but while the women are certainly multifaceted and have diverse personalities, the objectification of Beverly Marsh specifically can be off-putting to those uncomfortable reading graphic sex scenes (I’d like to make it clear that I’m not referring to the objectification of her by the other characters, as men treating her as an object and her breaking free of those who hurt her is an incredibly poignant part of her character development—I’m more-so referring to the use of her by the author as a way to write unnecessary (and sometimes gross in the case of a particular scene from before the time skip to adults) sex scenes and the objectification of her body by the author himself). While a longtime tradition of horror in both written and visual media is the inclusion of naked and/or sexually exploited women without any sort of plot relevance, more recent takes on the genre have managed to steer away from it, so this type of content may be shocking to some who haven’t interacted much with older works yet (basically—this was written in 1986 and it shows). Overall, I’d call this a good read, and the author does a fairly good job of representing real-life issues in his characters’ development, but I’d recommend caution before diving in—this book is a beast, clocking in at over 1000 pages, and a number of the scenes can feel a little pointless and are hard to get through. While I’d definitely say reading is worth it (as it genuinely is well-crafted with deep characters and an interesting, well fleshed-out plot) it will take up a significant portion of time to read, and can at times be a bit of a drag.

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carltonatasha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

2.75

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garmiet's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

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witchboyofboston's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

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curtiswastaken's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Seems fair that this is King's Opus as it's kind of a pure distillation of King as a writer. All the good and bad are mixed together.

I think IT is maybe one of the worst places to start if you want to get into King, but it's also maybe the ultimate bellwether to know if you're going to love or hate Stephen King books.

If you read all of this book and just love it, 5 stars, no notes, then you probably are going to like anything King has to offer. And I love that for you.

I think this style can be effective sometimes. I think Cujo is a great example where King is able to inject his flavor of world-building that manages to work and elevate the story rather than detract. Christine is the opposite, a mostly fun premise that is routinely soured by obnoxious sidetracking into the past.

What is frustrating about IT is that there is a of stuff that is GREAT. And a lot of what is great about IT is when you're in the dark about what Pennywise is or isn't. The further you go into this book, the more you are told about the history of Derry and 25 different interwoven stories across multiple generations. And the more you learn about Derry and the people within, the less Pennywise feels like a malevolent puppet master and more of a boogeyman.

The inciting event of IT, Georgie encountering Pennywise while chasing his paper boat down the street, is the big motivator for the presumed main character of Bill. But the further you read into IT the impact of that story increasingly dwindles. Bill kind of becomes the least interesting character but as it plays out is ultimately the big hero.

For better or worse, the book should have been about Beverly. And that's probably my biggest gripe with this book, even more so than the fact that about 300-400 pages of this book could disappear and I wouldn't even notice.

Bill, Eddie, Stanley, and Richie just aren't that interesting. I don't care about Eddie and his overbearing mom. I don't care whether Richie is funny or not. Stanley barely feels like he's in this book compared to how much space is devoted to the others, which I'll take as a win.

The ritual scene, the most notorious part of this book aside from Georgie getting ripped apart in the beginning, is the most puzzling aspect. Ultimately, the kids are meant to discover that things that make them weak are the things that make them powerful. Beverly's weakness is tied to her sexuality, at least tied to the perception of her sexuality from the POV of adults in her life. I think there is a version of Beverly's story that ends more solidly with her understanding of what about being a woman makes her powerful.

But why is Beverly's story so strongly tied to sexuality? I understand that the negative perception that's repeatedly drilled into her mind about how sex is bad and if she has sex then she is bad can be thwarted by Beverly having a positive experience with sex and finding power in that. But why does it have to be letting her friends bang her? It subverts the positive outcome for Beverly to realize being a woman is her strength, not her weakness, and instead manifests in a scene where she gratifies her male peers with her body is just very disappointing. It's also not deviating much from the constant tropes King relies on to tell stories about women in his books.

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bagonballoon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

This is my favorite book. It means the world to me, and I’ve read it more times than I can count. The audiobook in particular is a treat. It’s a masterpiece of horror for a reason. But it is also a beautiful meditation on childhood and friendship.

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wickedbastard's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

Damn near perfect.

This is my second time reading IT and I think I enjoyed it much more this time through, now that I know the main beats of the story. I'm very tempted to give it the full 5 stars outright but can't quite make myself do it. It is an AMAZING book -- but not perfect, and it's good to remember that, especially a book as enshrined as this one.

This time 'round I found myself picking up more on Stan as a character, and really enjoying him as a character. He's the doubter, the skeptic, the one who clings to brickwall reality even when the impossible is threatening to destroy him. It might seem like he lacks the capacity for faith but the reality is far too simple: Stan has little except his faith -- faith in the REAL, the tangible, the logical, the proven. And during his confrontations with IT, he is able to weaponize his faith in the real against IT and prevail.

Two scenes stand out (arguably the main two Stan is in at all).

One: Stan's account of the drowned boys in the standpipe. Even re-reading that, it gave me such chills and gooseflesh. The detail and pacing is absolutely flawless in that scene. It is a pure legend and captures the soul of the child from whose perspective it is told. The second: When Stan uses the names of birds to repel the attacks of IT. There is something powerful about that.

I believe in scarlet tanagers even though I never saw one. Same with vultures, and the New Guinea mudlark and the flamingos of Brazil. I believe in the golden bald eagle! And I think there really might be a phoenix somewhere! But I don't believe in you, so get the fuck out of here! Get out! Hit the road, Jack!
-- Stan, altered for continuity.

Last thought for this time:

During the final Ritual of Chüd, I think it should have been Beverly who finished the ritual against IT. As it actually happened, Bill attempted and lost his grip; Richie went in and saved bill, but couldn't hold on long enough; and then Eddie, outside of it all, dealt a mortal wound to IT and paid with his life.

Those first two points are all good with me, but I don't think Eddie's part should have happened. I think it would have been much better if, when Richie was starting to lose his grip, Bev entered the fray and kicked its ass, out there in the cosmic drift. Woman-to-woman, nobody fucks with my friends but me kinda thing. Woulda been cool.

Okay, last last thought: The audiobook was truly a stellar experience. Mine was narrated by Steven Weber and he worked his absolute ass off. He did all of Richie's voices, and Bill's stutter, plus the voices of IT, plus many voices/inflections for certain characters. He also has a really good sense of how to read a book and make the cadence sound natural, off-the-cuff, casual. Listening to his style is pure delight. I will happily listen to any audiobook narrated by Steven Weber.

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