Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Stand by Stephen King

28 reviews

xcinnamonsugar's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

According to my Kobo, it took me 20 reading hours to finish this tome. I've DNF-ed books a fraction of The Stand's length without hesitation, so yes this book is engaging enough to stick to despite being over 1000 pages long (I read the uncut/extended version). 

The Stand is divided into three parts:

• Book I sets the stage. A deadly flu way more contagious and lethal than Covid spreads rapidly throughout the United States and kills 99% of the population.
• Book II focuses on the 1% of survivors. They all have recurring supernatural dreams of two people: "good" is incarnated in an elderly black lady named Mother Abagail, while "evil" takes shape in a man named Randall Flagg. All survivors gravitate toward one of these two people, making gruelling cross-country pilgrimages that claim a few more lives in the process. 
• Book III is the cinematic good-versus-evil conclusion to this epic story. Despite juggling an ambitious number of character arcs, everything ties in together nicely at the end.   

Book I was probably the dullest to get through, given that we've already had first-hand experience with a global pandemic. Reading about quarantines and an overwhelmed public system felt a little too on the nose. There are also separate chapters introducing at least twenty different characters, which can feel a little disorienting. However, I've read enough Stephen King to realise that his books tend to start off very slowly, giving even the NPCs a well-rounded backstory.

Book II is where it gets interesting, since you begin to see how King hypothesises each of the myriad characters in our society makes their choice. One of the characters, Glen Bateman, is a sociologist. His little monologues theorising how human behaviour would inevitably lead to a certain pattern of progression in these little scrappy survivor communities was one of my favourite parts of this book.

Book III was pretty intense, but all's well that ends well. Many main characters died, but I thought the ways that each of them met their deaths was rather poetic and satisfying, even if a little sad.

Knocked a star off because, for all King's storytelling prowess, I cannot in good faith give 5 stars to any book with this much graphic sexual assault and objectification of the female body. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Sexual assault

Moderate: Torture and Misogyny

beatle426's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Death, Medical content, Grief, Violence, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, War, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Gore, and Child death

zoinkie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, War, Sexual harassment, Death, Suicide, Body horror, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Medical content, and Murder

mon11's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Racism, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse, Grief, and Sexual content

uriah's review against another edition

2.0

I'm glad I've read this because it's been on my TBR for nigh on a decade. This was my first King, potentially my last; I was not the biggest fan of how he wrote his women characters, but I did enjoy the various character arcs.

Also theres a pun at the climax of this book that was so silly it really took me out of the experience. It was the audiobook listening format of looking into the camera like you're on the office.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Violence, Cursing, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Torture, and Suicide

Moderate: Colonisation and Racism

darth_bored's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Enjoyed it but also good god was it too long!

I also found the ending to be a bit of a shark jump. I thought some of the supernatural/religious elements weren’t as good of a payoff as I’d hoped.

Again, enjoyed it but like most King books, do some editing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Murder, and Rape

tiffcutshall's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

By far my favorite King novel. This is the second time I’ve read this, the first being back ‘08. It was even better the second time and I caught things I either missed or glossed over the first. 

I love the way King weaves multiple themes and ideals together that make not just an interesting story but one that makes the reader actually think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, Dysphoria, and Grief

Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Violence, Medical content, and Racial slurs

By far my favorite King novel. This is the second time I’ve read this, the first being back ‘08. It was even better the second time and I caught things I either missed or glossed over the first. I love the way King weaves multiple themes and ideals together that make not just an interesting story but one that makes the reader actually think.

saj04's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Rape, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

stella323's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, and Violence

knenigans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Great story, great cast of characters. A lot of food for thought.
Would've been 5 stars if it weren't for the two rape scenes and the aggressive fatphobia. One of the rape scenes was directly plot related and was relatively vague, the other was explicit and did not contribute to the plot. While not shown, there is one section of dialog graphically describing other rapes.

Also about 0.05 of that missing 0.25 stars is because it seems like EVERY character in this book pisses themselves at least once. I'm quite sure there was more pants-pissing in this one book than all the others I've ever read in my entire life. I really hope one of the survivors turned out to be a pelvic floor therapist so they can help all these poor people control their bladders....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Rape, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racial slurs, Torture, and Suicide