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foxreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, and Death
Minor: Racial slurs, Cancer, Drug use, and Gun violence
ufojules's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
okay so overall I liked it better than The Shining but it definitely didn’t have the same level of suspense. I’ve read cheesy, high fae fantasy with better twists and climactic point tbh.
in Doctor Sleep’s defence, I absolutely loved Abra and the other hero characters were all pretty likeable while the antagonists were disgusting and I wanted them gone. so characters were great but the plot just wasn’t really there for me.
in Doctor Sleep’s defence, I absolutely loved Abra and the other hero characters were all pretty likeable while the antagonists were disgusting and I wanted them gone. so characters were great but the plot just wasn’t really there for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Kidnapping, Torture, Cursing, Gun violence, and Chronic illness
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Pedophilia
blenchbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, and Child death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Trafficking
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You know, DOCTOR SLEEP isn't all that bad! As far as King's horror books go, I think this is one of the better ones, along with THE SHINING. It's always fun to see characters "all grown up" and I liked not only seeing what became of Danny Torrence, but also learning more about the Shine and his gifts, and what others like him are capable of. Abra Stone was a great new character as well, and it's always good to see women rising up as formidable forces (good, and evil) in horror books... far too often they're still just victims. So I appreciated that!
I think that this new plot was interesting, and I'd be curious to learn more about the "True Knot" and people like them (is this in another King book? His universe is tied so well together). All in all a decent, spooky autumn read!
I think that this new plot was interesting, and I'd be curious to learn more about the "True Knot" and people like them (is this in another King book? His universe is tied so well together). All in all a decent, spooky autumn read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, and Racial slurs
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
2.5
!SPOILERS AHEAD!
I read The Shining for the first time earlier this year and was really hungry for more of that kind of story. The ghosts, the family dynamic, the mysterious power known as the shine. I picked up Doctor Sleep hoping to get more of that, but unfortunately it was a miss.
If I kept it short and simple, I would tell you that story-wise, this book is weak, especially as a sequel to The Shining. However, as is often the case with King's work, the characters really save it. Unfortunately, due to some poor story choices (imho) toward the end, they weren't quite enough to save it from losing a star.
Basically, I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Seeing Danny Torrance all grown up and struggling with the psychological trauma caused by his childhood was interesting, it was heartwarming watching him succeed where his father failed in regards to recovering from his alcoholic lifestyle, and I liked getting a better look at the shine and seeing what it was capable of. The connection with Abra was also interesting at first, and I was excited to see how that was going to come into play later in the story.
The whole thing took a bit of a turn for me around the time that Danny and Abra meet IRL. Firstly, I was struck with how uninteresting a character Abra was turning out to be. She felt very much like a mary-sue kind of character. In fact, I can't think of a single flaw in her character except people tell her that she has a temper. Despite all of the other characters telling the reader this, I felt like we weren't really shown. The closest thing was her phone confrontation with Rose, and even then, she was doing what Dan told her to do. Afterwards she's embarrassed and cries about it.
Other things that bothered me were how lame the True Knot ended up being, Danny and Abra ending up being related, and how anti-climactic the final showdown ended up being.
By the end of the book, I was wondering why it even existed as a sequel to The Shining. Honestly could've been an alright stand-alone book, if you remove all the references to its predecessor.
I read The Shining for the first time earlier this year and was really hungry for more of that kind of story. The ghosts, the family dynamic, the mysterious power known as the shine. I picked up Doctor Sleep hoping to get more of that, but unfortunately it was a miss.
If I kept it short and simple, I would tell you that story-wise, this book is weak, especially as a sequel to The Shining. However, as is often the case with King's work, the characters really save it. Unfortunately, due to some poor story choices (imho) toward the end, they weren't quite enough to save it from losing a star.
Basically, I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Seeing Danny Torrance all grown up and struggling with the psychological trauma caused by his childhood was interesting, it was heartwarming watching him succeed where his father failed in regards to recovering from his alcoholic lifestyle, and I liked getting a better look at the shine and seeing what it was capable of. The connection with Abra was also interesting at first, and I was excited to see how that was going to come into play later in the story.
The whole thing took a bit of a turn for me around the time that Danny and Abra meet IRL. Firstly, I was struck with how uninteresting a character Abra was turning out to be. She felt very much like a mary-sue kind of character. In fact, I can't think of a single flaw in her character except people tell her that she has a temper. Despite all of the other characters telling the reader this, I felt like we weren't really shown. The closest thing was her phone confrontation with Rose, and even then, she was doing what Dan told her to do. Afterwards she's embarrassed and cries about it.
Other things that bothered me were how lame the True Knot ended up being, Danny and Abra ending up being related, and how anti-climactic the final showdown ended up being.
By the end of the book, I was wondering why it even existed as a sequel to The Shining. Honestly could've been an alright stand-alone book, if you remove all the references to its predecessor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use
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