Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Zona Morta by Stephen King

12 reviews

mainereading's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

This book was great, but it was hard to read. It dealt with sexual assault of people but also a small child. It also not only had animal death but animal abuse and animal murder at the beginning of the story, among other hard things to read about. So when I say it was hard to read, I mean it. Also, I hoped the villain would get a healthy dose of karma. But that didn’t go down the way I was hoping it would. I liked the book, but I didn’t love it, unfortunately.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jvbook_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chloeshea's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

I’ve had this book for a few years, never touching it. Brought it with me this summer to read while off-grid doing field work. I didn’t know anything about the book besides the first few pages. Coincidentally, I finished reading it a week after Trump’s attempted assassination. Weird.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

Reading this 45 years after publication,  I can say it made my heart pound. Stephen King somehow managed to anticipate our political future,  and create a compelling story of the nightmare of knowing too much. His hero is cursed with an ability to read people and their pasts and futures. Others don't believe him, and he is driven to act.
I appreciated the complexity of John and the important people in his life. King takes the reader in quickly and doesn't let go. I read this in 2 days because I couldn't put it down. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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

3.5

As is pretty standard for King, this delves deep into the human side of the horror with incredible levels of detail that would be mundane if handled by anyone else. In fact, it almost does in this case. Then, for about the last third of the book I couldn't put it down and was completely swept up in the story.

Johnny's journey is pretty heartbreaking, and there's a sense of inevitability to it all that only worsens as the book goes on. His moral burden and the way he's treated by those around him are enough to leave him no real choice in his actions, and there's such a sadness in it. He's one of King's inherently good characters, an easy man to get behind. But as usual that makes the emotion hit so much harder.

I love how this ties into the real political situation in the US in the '70s, although I suspect a lot of the nuance and relevance has been lost over time. More thriller than horror, I'm not sure it'll stick with me the way a lot of King's other books have done. But for me, Stephen King on a bad day is still a pretty darn good read.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

seeker42's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rosereadsalot's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

travisppe's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Classic King romp
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kell_xavi's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

Stephen King writes a story of belief and desperation, class, politics, and disability. I liked Johnny Smith, and I liked King’s elaboration on how fear can manifest in religious obsession, in trust of the strangest authority when the working class is neglected and unheard for too long. I liked the setting in the 1970’s and quiet northeastern states, both far away places to me, made familiar by these pages. The first third is often slow, creaking along and introducing a number of scattered points that disappear and come back later (I forgot who kicked the dog, what happened to the waitress, what state we were in, a few times—made more difficult by the audiobook, where I couldn’t flip back easily). But once Sarah visits and then Johnny gets a call from Castle Rock, the story has more life. 

Johnny goes from a smart, likeable small town teacher to a haunted, sick man in the ten years this story covers; King articulates the internal pain and shame of his disability, coupled with the curiosity and hope and anger of those who encounter it, very well. I was on his side the whole way through, because he remains intelligent, considerate, the whole way through, even as he loses his ability to be part of the same reality as those around him. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nadia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this! I didn't know what the book was about at all before going into it and I'm really glad I didn't read the blurb. I love the way King tells a story, weaving in different perspectives and mediums. I always feel so immersed! It's also a book that raises moral and philosophical questions and I'm always appreciative of when a book can do that while maintaining a compelling plot.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings