Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Staden som Försvann by Stephen King

23 reviews

saarrr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

Wat heerlijk om na een maand van bijna alleen maar romcoms weer eens in een spannende horror te duiken. Al waren er in dit verhaal een stuk minder slachtoffers gevallen als iedereen nou eerst goed controleerde wie er voor hun deur stond, in plaats van maar gewoon: "joe joe, kom binnen hoor!" te roepen. 

Dit is één van de eerste boeken die Stephen King heeft geschreven en het is zeker niet perfect, maar ook in dit oudere werk doet hij al waar hij in veel van zijn boeken zo goed in is: realistische horror schrijven, waarbij de enge dingen niet alleen de monsters onder het bed zijn (of in dit geval vampiers), maar ook de doodgewone personages die zo je buren kunnen zijn en een duistere kant hebben. Dit boek heeft een goede combinatie van de twee en ik ben er dol op. 

Waar ik wel moeite mee had, was de enorme hoeveelheid personages. Het verhaal komt wat traag op gang en opeens is er een hoofdstuk waarin in een rap tempo zo'n 20 à 30 personages worden geïntroduceerd. Ik ben een ramp met namen, met als gevolg dat ik regelmatig moest terugbladeren om te controleren wie wie nou is. 

Desondanks een spannend en leuk boek, die ik bij sommige hoofdstukken niet meer kon neerleggen. Het is niet mijn favoriet van hem, maar staat zeker hoog in mijn lijst. Bij de boeken van Stephen King is het altijd afwachten of het einde wel goed is, want eindes schrijven is helaas niet zijn sterkte kant (*kuch* Under the Dome *kuch*), maar gelukkig paste deze prima. Genoten!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Car accident, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical content, Alcoholism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: War

_kaylinconn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I love Mark Petrie with my whole heart. 

I will say, this has just a touch of sexism lingering in the corners of the book that I did not love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual assault

alex60517's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Car accident, Infidelity, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Child death, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Misogyny, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

liblibby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I never want to read Stephen King ever again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

klsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is an impressive meditation on everyday evil and the plight of small town America (couched in the classic spooky story). The writing is excellent, and I could really feel the characters and setting. It was somewhat creepy, sometimes gross, and very tense. I knocked 1 star because the first 50% of the book is setting and character exposé. I really wanted something to happen, but when it finally moved, it kicked off. Also, there was only 1 main female character, and she almost exclusively talked about men. Most women characters were defined by men / mothering / their sexuality. It's not surprising for the time, but it's still disappointing. I had fun regardless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Rape, Addiction, Gore, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Violence, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Car accident

zeldazonks's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is quintessential Stephen King; troubled writer, precocious kid, a few abused/traumatised women, an alcoholic etc. So make of that what you will. I found the start pretty slow going, but once the action kicks in I was gripped. There are aspects of King's writing that I struggle with (jahoobies and liberal use of slurs) but I also love the way he writes. I feel like you really marinate in the mindsets of each of his characters and there are certain passages of prose that blow me away. So I give King a lot of free passes that I probably wouldn't if he wasn't such a staple on the bookshelf of my youth. As far as a Stephen King novel goes, I liked it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Murder, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Violence, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

cass_lit's review against another edition

3.5

I would like to have a talk with Stephen King’s editor, because I have suggestions. Cut the slurs. Cut any sexual comment about an underage girl (and maybe even the ones about adult women — this man called breasts “jahoovies” MULTIPLE TIMES). Cut ~150 pages because this does not need to be as long as it is. 

I felt about this the same I do about most Stephen King books. The bones are there and so good; he’s unmatched in his breadth of horror plot lines. But my god is this long book filled with writing that you’d think was intentionally trying to alienate women, queer readers, people of color… basically, Stephen King writes for straight, white, cis men and the rest of us just take what we can get from it. I loved the vampires and the haunted mansion on the hill, just hated all the characters and the way they talked and the way they were talked about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Violence, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia and Pedophilia

scip's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

ziopera's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, and Cursing

Minor: Homophobia