Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Holly by Stephen King

22 reviews

yellowpurple500's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An incredible book to carry on the Holly Gibney character. The plot kept me hooked throughout, I never wanted to stop reading. King has once again delivered an incredible book. 

At first I was a bit unsure about the inclusion of Covid and some other clear real world parallel events however after reading the end acknowledgements, I'm so glad that's the direction king went, it makes so much sense for the character. Also could someone explain to me why the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section at the end had me tearing up. 

Definitely read this after the Mr Mercedes trilogy, outsider and the short story in if it bleeds if you want to avoid spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lea8914lh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Honestly? Awesome.
I don’t often binge books buuuut this one was too good.
Btw I LIKED all the political and Covid stuff, idk why everyone is so pressed abt it
+ the poetry content was very engaging, loved it (kudos go out to Barbara)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

isacarvalho91's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer and Dementia

Minor: Police brutality

kotashomelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, and Stalking

theimposter's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lukerik's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Set during Covid and after the January 6th insurrection.  There’s a fair bit of social commentary on the cultural split America having at the moment.  It’s not a horror novel, there’s no magic in the plot, rather very much Silence-of-the-Lambs-esque, but it is about magic, the little magical things people do.

The baddies are particularly funny.  They have a plan to cheat age involving a bizarre diet that satirizes the supplements industry and this idea that everything will be ok if you just consume more.

King actually says in the afterword that he hopes he’s been fair.  I believe he votes Democrat.  I think he has been fair.  He doesn’t spare Holly.  So it’s the height of Covid, but she’s travelling around meeting people but thinks she’s going to be ok because she’s wearing a mask.

This is the best of the Holly novels so far.  I probably would have 4 starred it, but have just read Rowling’s latest.  These two writers should be served in the opposite order from wine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Police brutality, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, and Classism

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

King has historically been bad at writing female characters and good endings. I’m pleased that this book is a delightful change! 

I just love Holly Gibney and I’m glad King finally realized he could give a female character a full life and her own story. This is Holly’s 6th appearance and finally one where she’s the star 

King’s storytelling skills are on display here— his crime fiction is always a favorite style for me. This is intense and dark and gnarly (seem out CW for specifics because this has a lot of wild content) 

Know going in that this is a DEEPLY pandemic focused book. Covid is hugely a part of the plot and characters and King’s politics are also deeply embedded in the story. Not everyone will like that. I got past it and his author’s note helped. 

One thing that nagged at me (that I eventually worked through while reading) was how King characterizes the villains by having them use slurs. This is not new for him, but it comes off heavy handed for me personally. But I know his writing is read by a broad mass of folks so maybe that’s ok in the long run. At least he’s moved on from “the bad guys are all fat” so “the villains are super racist”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

riflelizards's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Dementia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Grief