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bookbelle5_17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
By: Stephen Chbosky
Christopher and his mother, Kate, escape from her abusive boyfriend to a small town in Pennsylvania. They are safe and content until Christopher gets lost in the Mission Street Woods for six days. When he is found he is smarter, with a strange touch, and the ability to hear people’s thoughts. He is asked to build tree right before Christmas by a mysterious voice while his touch has a bizarre touch that makes people mad with hate.
At first, I borrowed this from the library, but I had to buy so I could take my time without having to worrying about returning it. Christopher’s heroes’ journey is heartbreaking to read as we watch him struggle with everyone’s burdens being carried on his shoulders. His powers start out and something he can be proud, because he is getting smarter and helping people or so it seems, but things turned bad soon enough. It starts out as him having nose bleeds, but he sees how his touch effects people in negative way. He just wants to help people like his mom and friends, but there is a cost. This is one of those horror stories where at first, I didn’t know if he was imagining things or if this was really happening, but when things started showing signs of the chaos beginning it was pretty clear this was really happening. The Imaginary World has a nice a mixture of it seeming fun, but with a subtle hint of eeriness that makes it an unsettling place. There is a surreal quality to the imaginary world. The story partially takes place in one of my favorite settings in horror, a small town. The setting of a small town adds a bit claustrophobia to the story and the town’s folks eventually trapped literally and metaphorically. It looks at different kinds of bullying and abuse. Parents abusing their kids resulting in an endless cycle or bullying between kids. This also explores good vs. evil through a child’s eyes making it terrifying as kids are a lot more vulnerable. One of the creepiness aspects is the mailbox people. These are people with stitched eyes and mouths, who are slaves for our antagonist. I was quite surprised by something that happens at the beginning of the final battle.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, and Pregnancy
seawarrior's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's difficult for me to gather much more to say about the book since it's so expansive, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others. I did think the horror was written well, but the true source of it felt trite to me and I'd really been expecting something more original. If you do read it please review the list of content warnings, which is nearly as long as the book itself.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War
sandpiper22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Dementia, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Addiction
smolkeri's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Child death, Dementia, Drug use, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
ryerat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, Incest, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
lycheejelly's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Infertility, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Trafficking
camillesuzannes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Medical content, Cursing, Dementia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Grief, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Trafficking, Sexual content, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Incest, Kidnapping, and Sexism
Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Slavery
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So this story is divided into seven parts, 135 chapters, and an epilogue. Yeah, I know. This means that the chapters are pretty short though, which really helps with the book not feeling as long as it is. My main fear going into it was that the story would be slow, or drag in the middle. It never dragged for me until the last 100 pages though, so I do wish the author had cut the story to be a little shorter.
it did feel like this could have ended at several different points. I had some moments where it felt like we were heading to the climax....but there were still 400+ pages left. It made me curious to see how this story could keep going without feeling bogged down, and it really surprised me how the stakes kept rising. I ended up really getting into the story, and binged the last 300 pages all today.
I had heard or read that this is a religious horror, but that doesn't really kick in until about half way through the book. I had actually thought I had been mistaken about that until I hit that point, but it ends up really pushing into it, so I'd stear clear if that type of horror isn't your thing.
One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that the adults are not complete idiots. I hate when a story makes the adults to be oblivious fools who can't see what's directly in front of them for the sake of the plot, so this book was a breath of fresh air. I also ended up liking the entire cast of characters even though there are a lot of them. The author does a fantastic job of humanizing them, so it's easy to connect with the town.
One thing that stood out to me, and I've noticed other reviewers have mentioned this as well, is that the children did not feel as if they were 7 years old. I often forgot that this is what their age was supposed to be, and imagined them as more 11-12 years old. Whenever their age was reiterated it just made me laugh, because there is just no way.
This story does get completely ridiculous, and sometimes it is laughably so. I pondered if I should lower the rating at all for that, but honestly I've enjoyed this book so much that I don't think I should.
I adored coming up with theories for what was happening in this book. There were so many moments where I gasped at the end of a chapter, and then read what had happened to my husband. I think this is a fantastic horror novel that any fan of the genre should read !
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Blood, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Addiction and Dementia
Minor: Abortion, Vomit, and Pregnancy
sararainsberry'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Torture
markedwithanm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion