Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Carrie

Picked up a re-print of Carrie for the 50th Anniversary!

I've read a fair amount of Stephen King books over the years, but Carrie is one that seemed to slip past me. It felt a little clunky in places, and there were a few moments that made me question whether, if I hadn't seen the film, I'd have had a good grasp of what was going on, but for a debut novel...pretty damn good!

It was an emotional read, and I loved that the story was told alongside extracts from memoirs, official records etc; they wrapped well together and added that extra something to the book.

A solid book that left me questioning who the real 'monster' was and well worth a read for King fans.

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cristina_reading24's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

Even though I am way late to reading this and I have already watched he movie. This was still a really great read. It was a bit of a slow start for me, and the writing style didn’t agree with me totally. This is still a solid 4 stars.

What a horror gruesome lesson about not treating others horribly, because you have no idea what they are going through.

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ed_moore's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-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

3.25

I read Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ as I am involved in a production of the musical in a week, and was honestly surprised how quickly events unfolded in the book. Carrie is about a 17 year old girl who is outcast in school and faces abuse from her fanatically religious mother at home, yet finds she has the power of telekinesis and uses such to get her revenge on the town that wronged her for so many years.

The primary surprise was how early Carrie’s telekinetic powers were revealed, I was expecting this to be more of a self-discovery plot point and twist in Carrie though I am content to mention it in this review as it was more or less revealed on the first page. The ending also wasn’t left for the readers to theorise as due to fictional extracts from supposed non-fiction books written about the actions of Carrie White on prom night the ending was revealed early on and continually referenced throughout. I really didn’t enjoy the inclusion of these books within books as though aware of the story, it still very much took away from the ending and diverted from the plot, and any comments that foreshadowed were intentionally far too obvious. ‘Carrie’ was not a book written to leave the reader on edge guessing whatsoever, which really defeated its main draw within the thriller genre.

Despite my prior knowledge of the story the narrative and writing was however still harrowing. Scenes relating to the menstrual cycle and also child and religious abuse were extremely graphic, and the final sequence of events was absolutely brutal and apocalyptic, likely written in a means to mimic the biblical ‘Judgement Day’. It was also enhanced in the graphic imaginings of such as the scenes were often repeated from multiple perspectives, which increased reader exposure to violence but also failed to add much to the story.

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cryptofauna's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

woah!! okay i can def see how this launched his career. just amazing.
scary in its honesty and dark but it all feels so authentic? although it is more tense/ a thriller than i think it's a horror story. the events are horrifying but it wasn't scary or spooky in the traditional sense
i also feel like knowing the vague plot of this book because of how popular it is kind of added to the tense vibe because you know whats gonna happen at prom but carrie goes anyway.
well written with an interesting style (i do really enjoy a book that's a completion of different sources) but I did find it a little hard to keep track of sometimes, but i think it was mostly the kindle formatting making everything look the same w no breaks in between perspectives occasionally
read all in one day (especially as i tried to beat my kindle battery)

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