Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Institute by Stephen King

24 reviews

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

very good book!! dark but well-written and interesting worldbuilding

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, War, Gun violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Self harm, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Vomit, Addiction, Racism, Excrement, and Stalking

Minor: Racial slurs

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

ajay913's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Torture, Body horror, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Cancer, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Gaslighting, War, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

gold_star_reader's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Cursing, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Physical abuse, and Trafficking

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, and Torture

Minor: Racial slurs

sebnia_05's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Self harm, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Vomit

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Institute focuses on two stories. In the first Tim Jamieson an ex cop who was let go due to a reckless decision and ends up hitch hiking to a small town in South Carolina. He decides to stay a while as both a night knocker and an unloader at the train station, and gets to know the town. In the second, Luke Ellis is a very intelligent 12-year-old boy about to attend both MIT and Emerson. But in the middle of the night he is kidnapped and taken to The Institute a place that doesn't care about his intelligence, only about his minor telekinetic ability. All the kids here are used and abused, but the employees have gotten a little lax. It will take everything look has to be able to escape. 

I think Stephen King really excels when he writes stories about children. His stories with adolescent teen boys are some of the most compelling and well written. The story doesn't have the normal tendency to go off the rails but is a great analysis of power and what those who have too much of it choose to do with it. Stories where "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" are where King shines the most, the absolute horror of having zero power and control in a situation reaches into some deep fear inside of us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Murder, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Death, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, and Cursing

Moderate: Racial slurs, Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Racism, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Ableism

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

the book was good but i would’ve chosen someone other than santino fontana to narrate it. idk i think he’s great in general but i didn’t vibe with his narration

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Terminal illness, Torture, Medical trauma, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Bullying

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Cancer, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Racism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Excrement, Car accident, Drug abuse, and War

ilmariel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

pkc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I finished this in conjunction with the audiobook, reading the last 200+ pages in my physical copy and…King remains one of my favourite authors BUT this just wasn’t it for me. It felt a bit like he’d bitten off more than he could chew and the end was rushed with a resolution that could be described as shaky at best. I rated it as highly as I did because the final set piece was epic. It either needed to be expanded or drastically cut back. I can’t decide which. I will say though. The authors note at the end of my copy brought a wee tear to my eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Confinement, Cursing, Self harm, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

book_s1ut's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Bullying, Child death, Torture, Classism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Confinement