Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

31 reviews

introverted_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Gore, Car accident, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I love the way King creates entire communities, with fleshed out characters and history, rather than just dumping the present on us. It's so fascinating to read even the parts that aren't filled with the supernatural. If the book is about a community you can be damn sure King knew every corner of the place inside out; it teminds me of Under the Dome in that way. It adds to the tension because you know something horrifying is coming, and there's constantly something simmering under the surface while you deal with small-town gossip and secrets.

When things start to ramp up from about half way through, you can totally see the point of the slow burn until then. You've got to know all the characters just well enough to predict and dread the impending carnage.

When things do start to escalate (and it happens fast!), you can tell that making the reader informed and the victims ignorant is completely intentional; I wanted to yell at the book every time someone said "come on in" to a knock at the door, or brandished a useless gun. It made it quite fun through the tension.

I flew through the second half after savouring the first. This is definitely a classic with a proper traditional horror feel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Car accident and Rape

emilypolcyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This is a perfect vampire book to me. I loved how much setup we had — it made the world feel so real and grounded so when the vampires actually came the stakes were incredibly high (haha get it… stakes…)

A lovable cast of characters and a portrait of some truly awful people. I expected a good scary story but didn’t expect to love the people in it as much as I did.

Some outdated language / iffy remarks about queer and trans people but the story is all about terrible people + it was the 90s and King is just some white guy so I’ll give him a break. But if that sort of stuff upsets you be forewarned (not that you probably read Stephen King to feel warm and fuzzy inside… but still)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Car accident, Death, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

laurendart's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

literatureleaf'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Age: 16+

 

Reading time: 7 days

 

Difficulty level: 1.5/5

 

Rating: 3.5/5

 

 

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King follows Ben Mears, a stuck-in-a-rut, struggling author, as he returns to his hometown in hopes of drawing inspiration for his new book from the Marsten House, an abandoned mansion with a dark and bloody history. However, upon arriving, Ben quickly realizes that all is not what it appears to be in the ‘Lot when things begin to go wrong. 

 

As strange disappearances and unexplained happenings start to occur, coinciding with the arrival of two new residents who just don’t quite seem to be who they say they are, Ben teams up with a small group of locals to uncover the secrets of the Lots’ past, and attempt to save both the residents of Salem’s Lot and the town itself from a fate worse than any of them can imagine.

 

In typical King fashion, the vivid, chilling atmosphere is the star of the show. Simultaneously disquieting and beautiful, the feeling of something deeply sinister unfolding just under the nose of our main characters, against the backdrop of a seemingly sleepy New England small town that somehow feels like somewhere you’ve been before, if not in person, then in your dreams, is intensely personal and familiar.

 

King is the master of turning the mundane into the riveting, disgust into empathy, and pain into beauty. With the simple stroke of a pen, the boring, repetitive, and often depressing realities of those who live in small towns are crafted into something that shows how the most carnal, intimate thread of the shared human experience is fear.

 

With so much of the focus placed on the setting and the plot, character depth suffers. For much of the book, the main cast feels forced and shallow. With what feels like little insight into their deeper motivations and feelings, forming empathy and genuine connection with them feels impossible to achieve, even in the face of their struggles.

 

Unfortunately, the impression of underdeveloped characters is compounded by, at times, weak dialogue, and a long winded narrative. So much time is spent on their circumstances and environment that there is little time left to devote to the inner workings of their relationships with the town and with one another, leading to the feeling that something integral is missing.

 

Leaving little to the imagination, Salem’s Lot is a masterwork in utilizing the supernatural as a vehicle to explore the depths of human depravity. Taking the quietly desperate lives of the Lots’ residents, and putting their secrets, heartache, rage, wonder, and love on display in the face of a surreal, non-human malevolence beyond their wildest dreams displays a stark spotlight, not on otherworldly entities, but on the horrors that permeate our towns, our neighborhoods, and even our own backyards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual violence, Cursing, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Bullying, Medical content, Car accident, Addiction, Racial slurs, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

scip's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

loz1327's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

mmadill227's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Rape

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Death, Violence, Cursing, Blood, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Sexual content, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Stalking

augustinedreams's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a good book, but lasted way too long. Also once again Stephen King brings things into the story he doesn't have to (ie sexual assault & domestic abuse). This is a book about vampires not abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Violence, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Sexual assault