lollipopxo_ 's review for:

Pet Sematary by Stephen King
5.0
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Pet Semetary was easily the scariest book I've ever read. Aside from the supernatural happenings I think that Stephen King captured grief and the lengths a person will go to in an attempt to control fate are the most terrifying part of the story.
The supernatural elements with Victor Pascow and the Wendigo were very scary - on multiple occasions throughout my read I had to turn on all of the lights, and at a certain point I stopped reading at night (with the exception of the night I finished it, and at that point it took me about 45 minutes to calm down before I was able to sleep again).

I think the scariest thing for me however, is the grief Louis went through at the loss of his son. Having recently become a parent myself, I cannot fathom the idea of losing my child. This story is so compelling because if I knew what Louis knew, and I was in his position, would I do anything differently? The love for a child supersedes time and space, it supersedes anything I have ever known. If something were to happen, there are no limits to what I would do, and presented with the option to bring her back, I probably would in a heartbeat.

Aside from being chilling, frightening, and utterly heartbreaking, King has such a particular way with words and does an excellent job at evoking intense emotions with a word or a phrase. As with most of his other works I've read, he does an excellent job of bringing you inside the heads of his characters. I often felt as though I was there with Louis, or Jud, or Rachel, feeling what they were feeling.

An excellent book that I read at super human speed, and may have ousted Salem's Lot as my favourite King novel.
 
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