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bomenvernietiger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Stalking, Vomit, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Antisemitism, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Ableism, Cancer, and Islamophobia
gemmawelton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So this was a tough read for me. I started it last year and got to about 600 pages in before it lost me, and honestly I felt the same struggle to read it this time as then.
I’m not going to comment on just how deeply disturbing this book is, because I do understand that that is the entire point of this book - it’s a horror. You’re not going to get flowers and rainbows.
But I am going to single out the extreme emphasis on child sexuality.
I skipped the scene with all the losers at the end of the book, when they’re trying to get out of the sewers and apparently all have to have sex with Beverly because there’s NO OTHER WAY to resolve it AT ALL, because it literally felt too close to child p*rnography and it made me feel sick.
My second point on this subject is the encounter between Patrick and Henry in the junkyard. They’re twelve. Just because they are bullies/murderers doesn’t diminish that, and I’m not entirely sure why Stephen king included this as I don’t think it actually furthered the plot at all, it just drew more attention to the tones of homophobia.
My third point regarding this is the general theme throughout the book - all of the loser’s experience a ‘s*xual stirring’ when around Beverly or any of the girls who are mentioned in the book and Beverly herself expressed the same feelings a couple of times, one of which is in the junkyard. There’s also the fact that a few times there are mentions of children turning up dead with their s*xual organs mutilated or completely gone.
Edit: just a quick fourth point, the scene between Beverly and her father when he asked to ‘check’ she was still a virgin.
Another thing I wanted to touch on was the amount of homophobia featured in this book. Again, I understand that this was meant to contribute to the theme of the book and of Derry, and there is the whole different eras argument, but I also feel like it cropped up more often than was ‘relevant’ to the plot. I’m not even sure how it was actually relevant, it didn’t really have a lot of influence over the plot, and unlike the films, we didn’t get any characters that were part of the LGBTQ+ community (aside from Adrian and Don (I think)).
I know that Stephen king himself and a some people who are devoted to this storyline have defended these choices, with king citing that times have changed and it’s different millennia, but this was written in the ‘80’s. It wasn’t ok then, it’s not ok now, and it never will be ok.
I’ve seen people say that the scene in the sewers between the losers was each of the boys showing they’re love for her and Beverly herself reclaiming her self/‘sexuality’ after what happened with her father, but there were plenty of other ways for the boys to show they loved her, in fact they did throughout the book multiple times, and Beverly was 11. You can’t tell me she was even fully aware of what exactly sexuality is, let alone that this was the best way to reclaim it.
Overall, I’m not sure this will be something I pick up to read often, if again, and if I do it would probably be just to skim through some parts rather than have an actual read of it. If I get the urge for a story with an awesome bunch of kids who defeat a murderous otherworldly clown, I’ll watch the films as I feel they did the story and the characters much better.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, and Police brutality
Minor: Animal death, Car accident, and Rape
theteaisaddictive's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit