Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

103 reviews

vinett's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Cursing, and Death

bookishchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was so good!! I'm a big Stephen King fan and this has gotta be my favorite (so far). 
The beginning was slow but after 100 pages, the story speeds up and I was hooked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

2.5

throughout majority of the book it dragged and i just felt like it was so long and then by the time the huge climax was happening at the end, i was too put off and literally queasy reading it. it was harrowing and depressing under the guise of ~spoooky~ ?? still a fan of the overall premise and how it leaves off though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was my first King book! I don't think it'll be my last either. I was expecting it to be far more thrilling than it was. Not that there weren’t creepy or disturbing parts, but the book is more sad than scary. Honestly the scariest parts had nothing to do with the supernatural elements at all, and everything to do with the true-to-life medical events.  

 

It deals heavily with grief and death, and the ways various characters react to and process the deaths of their loved ones. I have some trauma around sudden loss, so this book resonated with me in that way. 

 

It’s a slow building book, with most of the horror action in the last 30-40 pages, but from the first inciting incident it sucked me right in and it was hard to put down. King really has a way with words and turns of phrases that I enjoyed, as well as repeating phrases and themes. I’m never going to hear that Ramones song the same way again, that’s for sure. Hey-ho, let’s freakin’ go! (Or don't. Probably better to stay put actually.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Grief, Animal death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Terminal illness and Animal cruelty

jaimc's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Blood, Grief, Animal death, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Ableism, Confinement, Terminal illness, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Child death, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Cursing, Murder, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Domestic abuse

paloma_sanchezh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Blood and Car accident

svnsn's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

5.0

This has to have been one of the best books I've ever read. The way King built up the story and the characters leading up to the climax just makes complete sense. It wasn't an easy read, I'll say that. At times it was gut wrenchingly sad. I literally had a sinking feeling in my stomach at some points. Not many stories have been able to elicit such a reaction from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Death, and Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Blood

thepoieszedlife's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Death, Animal death, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad

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

4.0

"I don't wanna be buried in a pet sematary,
I don't want to live my life again."
-The Ramones

Louis Creed has moved his family from Chicago to Maine for a job. The house is idyllic with one exception, the road out front is a throughway for very large tanker trucks. When Louis's daughter's cat, Church, is hit by one of these trucks, the neighbor, Jud, shows Louis what to do. They bury Church in the real pet cemetery, a place where the dead don't stay dead. Church comes back not quite right, but he's definitely back. So, when Louis's 2 year old son gets hit by a different truck, Louis does the unthinkable.

I first read this book back in high school and I remember finishing it and being terrified to be home alone. This time around it was just as eerie, but 20 years has given me some perspective. The trope of the "ancient Indian burial ground" is definitely outdated and a little more than gross as is the use of a Wendigo. But the imagery of everything is still spooky.

I really liked Jud and the relationship he had with Louis. It is always nice to see wholesome relationships between men and I feel like King always does a good job at that. The same with the relationship with the other doctors at the University.

There's a lot of good here, but there is a lot of cringe too. Oh, god the bathtub scene. I forgot it was in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Blood

Moderate: Colonisation, Alcohol, and Racism

Minor: Antisemitism