Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Stand by Stephen King

66 reviews

bookish_manda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I had several people recommend this Stephen King book to me, including my history teacher friend from high school. This is my fourth King book, and at this point I’ve enjoyed reading 50% of them. I’m a fantasy and dystopian fan, but I think I mostly like King’s high fantasy books (Fairytale and The Eyes of the Dragon). I really didn’t like Gunslinger. 

 As far as The Stand goes, I don’t think this book was worth the many hours of listening. I opted to listen to the 2008 complete and uncut edition, and I think that was a mistake. A forty eight hour audiobook is really long. Especially a Stephen King audiobook… 

I liked this book better than Gunslinger, but there were so many things that bothered me about The Stand. It was originally published in 1978, but 2024 me struggled getting passed the old-school norms of misogyny, religious influence, rape, and language towards minorities (persons of color and persons with disability). 

I think I will need to try King’s later books and non-fantasy/dystopian books (excluding any future high fantasy books). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Suicide

Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexism

scipio_africanus's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

Damn good story. My first time reading Stephen King, and he didnt disappoint. From the synopsis I went in expecting it to be overly sentimental, corny, cartoonish, or just plain weak the way The Postman ended up being but was pleasantly surprised with the direction King took the story and the characters. I see why King is so successful. Great writing and a great time. Will def be exploring him more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

dflemmons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Death, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

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

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

colin_s's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? N/A

4.75

Quote:

“The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.”

Setting:

Set in the year 1990 in a fictional United States a super flu gripes the nation and likely the world. The world is left with few left alive and only shadows of the dead in vehicles left on the road remind of the world as it was before.

Plot:

At the start of the novel there is a mistake that leads to a super flu (Captain Tripp as it become referred to) quick envelops the United States leaving very few alive. Our story follows several of those with an immunity to it and what they choice to do with what is left.

Writing:

Once again it's traditional Stephen King and you find yourself just not wanting to put it down, which is a shocker as it's a very heavy, very long book. Despite it's large size it doesn't feel like there is much fluff, even in the extended edition. The dialogue is as strong in this as in any of his other books I've read.

Characters:

The characters in this book are without a doubt the shining achievement of it. Each is well fleshed out and you get to see the life they lead before the super flu and how it changed them when society crumbled to dust.

Pros:

Stellar characters
Compelling story

Cons:

Very Long
An overuse of a racism slur

Recommendation:

This book is an easy recommendation from me, even with its large size. I managed to finish it in about 16 days. This breaks down to almost 75 pages per day, however I was reading it much slower at first and much more voraciously at the end. The book has a bit of a slow burn, hooking you in and making you want to see more, to know more. I personally will have to knock it a few points as the over user of a slur did start to grate on me, but luckily it's used more so in the first half and not the later.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

gagereadsstuff's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Ableism, Body shaming, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, War, Cannibalism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Drug abuse, and Trafficking

Minor: Abortion

secretbadass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

Uff da, where to start with this book. I read the uncut version and although I did enjoy the plot and story it was just too long (1141 pages). I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book but it fell off a bit at the end. The plague parts were great, good descriptions and visuals with some disturbing bits and getting to know the characters through their various survival situations was interesting and flowed well. But once all the characters came together things got a little boring and VERY cumbersome. I also ended up not liking one of the main characters (and catalysts) which doesn't help with overall enjoyment. Definitely not bad but read the shorter edited version :P

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Rape, Racial slurs, Grief, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Suicide

lyfeinpr0gress's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Ableism, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Bullying

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.