Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Green Mile by Stephen King

56 reviews

exeidur's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I am so glad I finally read this, but I don't think I ever want to again. I saw the movie fifteen years ago, which made for an interesting experience where I half-remembered some of the plot points, but was still waiting to see how the story developed. The tension in here is crazy, the mixing of past and future really adds to the story, and while it took a while to get into it, you can't really put the book down after the halfway mark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Racial slurs, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse, Blood, Cancer, Excrement, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, and Torture

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

I first read The Green Mile about 20 years ago, and I adored it then. But reading it again having explored a lot more of King's catalogue was an even better experience. It's reminded me that this is truly one of my favourite of his books.

The other stark reminder in this book is how incredibly well King can write about grief and regret, with minimal horrific content (though of course there's some pretty grim stuff too). The emotional heft in this story is so brilliantly done. As expected I was a blubbering mess at the end (as I am every time I watch the film).

The characters are what make this wonderful book. Paul, Brutal, Harry and Dean are so much fun to read, and John Coffey remains one of my favourite literary characters of all time. Oh, and of course Mr Jingles!

The nature of good and evil is inherent throughout and the book is steeped in sadness. But there's humour and joy too, and it's the kind of book that really gets under your skin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Rape and Violence

schohayes's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I loved this book so much. SO much. It’s giving Just Mercy. It made me laugh, cry, feel nauseated, and reflect. It was horrifying and lovely and enthralling and sad all at the same time. I guess I get the Stephen King hype now!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs, Child death, and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia

viceveritas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Murder, Death, Racial slurs, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape

a_augustine12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The Green Mile was a fantastic book. However, because it’s not typically the kind of story I read, I struggled through it. The movie is practically spot on, and I will continue to watch the movie again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Car accident, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Body horror, Cancer, Grief, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Torture, Hate crime, and Death

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Terminal illness, Death, Rape, Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, and Racism

gudrqa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Animal death, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

tifftastic87's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It feels slightly odd to give this a five start and then say it's not my favorite book by Stephen King, but here we are. I genuinely do think that the Green Mile is one of King's greatest books and it is a five star read for me on this second time around. This one always stands out to me because it is one of the rare cases for a King work where the movie holds up for me. That being said I do have some criticisms.

I really wish the only black character in the book hadn't been King's typically magical being and that we didn't have to have him be magical for his incarceration to be in question. I do like that King made some comments early on that minorities in prison are rarely given the same freedoms, or excuses, or even pardons that white people are. But some of the use of Coffey in this story is hard to hear because not only is he incredibly large, he's incredibly dim witted. He is simply a being of instinct with a deeper sense of the world than the rest of us. He is almost childlike in some aspects, being afraid of the dark, not being able to tie his shoes etc. It is uncomfortable at times to hear it that way. 

The other thing is that listening to it as an adult versus reading it as a teen I really wanted Paul to stand up to Brad a bit more. There never was any consequences for him and that just didn't sit right with me. But then, rarely are there consequences in life. 

Criticisms out of the way, the episodic writing really made the whole feel of the book different than most other King books. Usually we sit with the main character for half to two-thirds of the story before anything really happens and we just get to know them. But with an episodic story like this, you have to get to know them organically and to me that really felt like Paul was sitting down and telling me the story of the fall of 1932 on the green mile. It felt comforting, like a story my own grandparents would have told me around a campfire. Apart from all the brutal murdering that is. 

It really felt King did some work here to make criticisms of our prison system, nepotism, and, of course, capitol punishment. There is some light commentary on how race plays into a lot of these things and I think for a book published in 1996 by an older white man, that is maybe not as common as it would be today. While the commentary was clunky and not without it's fair share of white saviourism, it was nevertheless, at least broached. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Cancer, Child death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism

rmfickfack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

mmadill227's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Minor: Animal death