Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Staden som Försvann by Stephen King

86 reviews

mfmccoy0216's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

I really wanted to try to like this book but by the end I was just fueled by hatred to finish it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

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

sleepy_yoshi's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

King's talent for writing everyday life of a small town and populating it with interesting characters is on full display here. Granted there are times he goes into the small details that may not appeal to everyone, but for me as a non-visual reader he paints a picture that even I can see.

The atmosphere he builds while slowly increasing the tension is a great journey, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There were some elements I didn't think were particularly strong such as the romance Ben has and I thought there were a tad too many 'random' characters. Overall though it's a great "modern" take on the vampire mythos.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Physical abuse

jovanh's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a fairly enjoyable homage to Dracula, with King's signature host of smalltown characters, (plus his sympathy for childhood terror, and casual female objectification).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Child abuse, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Car accident

Minor: Sexual content and Alcoholism

gavinn_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Blood, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Child abuse

alanfollowsagraph's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse

river69rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

My first Stephen King! Absolutely sped through this, writing style is so digestible and I really like the majority of the characters, but also the way King tells the story of the town and the people who live there. It made the creep to the events of the book more disturbing. Saying that... I didn't find this very scary, I perhaps hyped it up as a scary book too much after my mum saying it gave her nightmares, but I just found the vampire thing goofy. I think it's still good horror writing but it did not scare me in the way horror films/games do where I am easily scared, so I am thinking maybe books just don't scare me in the same way.

Oh also, the epilogue after wrapping up the story of the main characters could've stopped there. I got no enjoyment reading about additional characters from past and future.

Anyway, very good, very readable book and I will definitely pick up more Stephen King in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Child abuse

_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

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? No

4.5

I had a lot of fun with this book. King, as always, is great at making your skin crawl. I think I enjoyed it more since I've read Dracula already. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Animal death, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

greatgreyowl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence