Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Staden som Försvann by Stephen King

11 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!

---

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

---

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

---

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

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Violence

eldritch_ace's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

Minor: Medical content, Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

sophialovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Toxic relationship

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.5

I thought the town and the characters within the town were fascinating. With that said, the main character was bland… and this book was wayyyy too long. I loved Dracula so I had a bit of hope. This book isn’t terrible, but it definitely isn’t the bed vampire read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Medical content, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: War and Vomit

Just assume this book has it all.

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

milorogers's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

jaedia's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.25

 Took much too long to get going though King's writing has a way of making nothing seem readable. There were pages that simply detailed what different families were having for dinner. While I can respect this was to effectively show the slow death of the town, some of it was just boring. Also would be remiss not to mention the sheer amount of homophobic slurs in the book. And this was clearly written when King had a very bleak outlook of the world.

That all said, I did enjoy reading it. The writing was enjoyable, the story compelling, and the dread creeping. A nice dark vampire horror story of a town's slow, sleepy, bloodcurdling death. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Transphobia, Suicide, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting