A review by maxgardner
Pet Sematary by Stephen King

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There are some really interesting themes explored here—grief and one's relationship with mortality, navigating different approaches to parenting, the dangers of getting involved with something you know is powerful but don't understand fully—and I really liked how King introduced these and played with them. There are also some great moments of horror—the scene with the accident at the ER, the night terrors, the pet cemetery and the mystery around it. But it didn't quite work for me as a whole—it does feel a bit too long, and I didn't enjoy how King transitions between some of the time periods (specifically, I hated how he chose to write one of the saddest and most pivotal parts of the book—it takes all of the punch out of it and leaves you wondering if you missed a few pages). Add to that the poorly written sex scenes and the odd moments where we get seemingly unnecessary details about Louis (I'm sorry, did he

fuck a sex worker while on a business trip with his pregnant wife at home

or did I miss something about the timeline?). I like Stephen King, but this book more so than any of the others I've read by him so far had me exclaiming, "God, you can tell a man wrote this." I won't be reading this one again, and I think I'd only recommend it under specific circumstances.