Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Rose Madder by Stephen King

7 reviews

dearcityskylines's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

The majority of the book itself was a good read. I enjoyed how King set up the plot and introduced the characters to the story. There were some turns in the book that were extremely tense, and I loved how Rosie continued on - but did it terrified. 

Only real issue I had was the ending. The story had a great build up, but the ending of the book is underwhelming. Not terrible, just not...tied together.

The ending with her and remember the tree seemed like a medicore ending to the horror she endured. It did add suspense, but it didn't do well for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

emmiemopho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

What my husband hears when I read Stephen King: “Stephen, why do you have to say it like that” and “I just don’t have the ability to put up with your nonsense tonight, Stephen.” 

It’s true. I don’t like reading most SK stories but there are a few that I really like. And with a silly little goal to read the rest of his books, I hope I can add some more faves to that list. But sometimes, I’m just fed up and at this point, on a first name basis with Stephen when complaints arise. 

Rose Madder is horrific and there should be so many trigger warnings on it. The first chapter jumps in with detailed abuse, rape, and lots of blood. I think I was nauseous for about 80% of the read. Would I recommend? Definitely not. But if you do, just know the detailed abuse is on the same level as the parts they had to take out of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

btrz7's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Another that I loved as a teen but didnt hit the same way as an adult. 

It made me more emotional this time around for sure but it was... Definitely 90s. Its always hard when King writes from his villain's perspective because they are always truly horrible and its hard to hear the language they use about other people. However it does truly make you hate Norman. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

srags's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

2booksandacoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a decently paced thriller from the very first page. I was expecting a lot of scene and character development before my heart started pounding. No ma'am, not this time. 
For being such a heavy read, and by heavy I mean there is A LOT of abuse in this book. Its the entire plot. Physical, sexual and mental. 
Rose is married to a detective, their relationship started out normal. However the issues didn't start until they got married and that's when the abuse started. 14 years of abuse, fourteen years, before Rose had her ah-ha moment and woke up. One day she knew that the next time he was going to kill her, so what did she do? She ran for her life. She had moments through out the book where she was looking over her shoulder and she could hear Norman's voice telling her that he was coming for her. 
This definitely felt more of a psychological thriller to me rather than horror. The cat and mouse game through out, getting the two points of view throughout the book really gets us into the inner workings of Rosie and Norman's minds. King is the absolute best at being able to do that, and with Norman's sick and twisted mind it was quite interesting to see his side if these psychologically speaking. 
I'm going to be very blunt, this was a fucked up story. But it is well worth it if you can get through the horrifying acts of violence. 

TW: physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, murder, violent scenes, miscarriage. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

Interestingly, my normal complaints for King novels weren't a problem with this one. The language and swearing used felt appropriate, the sex content seemed to fit, and the ending was actually pretty good. The main issue I had was the inclusion of the husband's perspective. In thrillers and horrors, I just don't like hearing the bad guy's thoughts. For one thing, they are super uncomfortable and gross to read, but for the other they take some of the suspense away. I think I would have been more scared if I were as uncertain as Rose was about what he was doing.
The other thing I had an issue with was the racism, homophobia, and fatphobia. The first two mostly came from the villain of the novel, so it's unclear if it was meant to be just a bad thing the bad guy thinks or if the narrative was supporting those ideas. The fatphobia was clearly coming from the narrative itself, not just the villain's perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual content