Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Firestarter by Stephen King

3 reviews

hyacinthed's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

Complicated feelings on this one.

Strengths:

• Strong worldbuilding (as always)
• Great structure
• Solid development of Charlie/decent development of Andy
• Dude putting on lingerie and jerking it to a garbage disposal. Lit.

Difficulties:

• Literally everything relating to Rainbird. The overt racism in his characterisation (yes it was the '80s, no it has not aged well), the literal pedophilic overtones of how he thinks and speaks about Charlie.
• The homophobia sprinkled throughout.
• The constant fat-shaming of Andy after he blows up on thorazine (we get it, he's fat, you don't have to remind us once a page).
• The lack of resolution of Vicky's death - I was hoping for some kind of reconciliation/closure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Murder, Suicide attempt, Torture, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Stalking, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Homophobia

jonssweater's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Racism, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Pedophilia and Racial slurs

myleejmiller's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

I grew up hearing all about the legends of Stephen King. The King of Horror, many call him. I was only convinced to read the first book I have picked up by him since hearing rumors over the years: Firestarter, when I saw the movie release trailers for the second adaptation. I was not disappointed by the novel. The storytelling was beautiful and vivid. The characters were deep and astonishing. Everything came together with rhyme and reason in tandem. However, despite the greatness of the story and its writing, I note a few issues within it. One being that at some points the main characters knowingly and willingly walk into danger, dreading it, when they could easily avoid it altogether. Second, this book was marked as  Science-Fantasy Horror-Thriller. I will preface this by saying I am not easily scared or excited, but this book did not feel scary or tense to me. I have read contemporary non-horror books with what felt like harsher and more gripping stakes. Third, I have to say that the end of the story is completely predictable, at least to me. I found it easy to assume which events would happen before they came to pass. Otherwise, Firestarter by Stephen King was a masterpiece. It showed his prowess in painting detailed settings and giving the readers an inside look of life through the eyes of Andy and Charlie McGee.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Cursing, Death, Confinement, and Animal death