Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Holly by Stephen King

30 reviews

amp18's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

It was a good concept but it was so slow. Bogged down with repetitive details. I started skimming halfway through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Medical content, and Grief

Alzheimer's

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark 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

I was eagerly anticipating listening to this after establishing my appreciation for Holly as a character in the Bill Hodges trilogy, and then the first two books in Holly's trilogy. I am no covid denier or anti-vaxxer, in fact quite the opposite a someone who still routinely masks in 2024, but unfortunately the c o n s t a n t "are ya vaxxed?" "Double!" had even me rolling my eyes hard. That's probably because one of the reasons I read is escapism. I'm already worried enough about covid irl. I'm not worried about elderly cannibal neighbors though - that's the story I'm here for!

It's not that the book was ruined by the frequent mentions of vaxxing, masking, and covid. It was just laid on so thick. The story would have been better served by briefer mentions or letting the reader assume continuity in the characters' behavior. I also felt kinda off about the very black and white, "this person got covid so they died and probably deserved it because they didn't get vaxxed."

Primarily regarding Holly's mother.

Or how the bad guys were staunchly anti-vaxx. Unfortunately(?) reality is much more complicated than that.

An earlier-in-the-pandemic version of myself honestly would probably have appreciated all that, because there was a long chunk of time where it felt uncanny to read or watch anything fictional that didn't mention covid. But this was too much. I also felt like I didn't get enough "oofs" from Holly. She didn't quite seem like herself, but maybe I was just distracted by yet another character encouraging her to unmask because they'd "gotten the jab!"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer

rcy's review against another edition

adventurous dark

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

tierraskye's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

abbysingh's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

_cararichardson's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

This was my first audiobook experience, so that may alter my overall opinion of the book. I randomly picked this title, and I have not read any of the other Holly Gibney stories, so some of her backstory was lost on me. I think I would’ve had trouble finishing this book had I read the print version. You already know the culprits and the crimes fairly early on, Holly’s story just fills in the details and leads it to its end. That being said, I did enjoy the ending and found it thrilling. This is not my favorite Stephen King book by any means, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought. I think it was a good audiobook pick; the narrator was pretty good.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Cannibalism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Holly is one of my favorite ever King characters, and I hope to see her again. I’ve loved watching her character progression, and while I was crushed when Bill was taken out of the narrative, I can now understand why that was necessary for Holly to become who she is in this book. I’m also relieved she got to where she was with her out of control family. I also love her friendships with Jerome and Barbara, but I feel like they are written with less depth. I would love to see a spinoff just for Barbara, or let’s give them more prominence in the next Holly installment as more than standby supporting characters. Actually, they were fairly active in this one, but I have a begging feeling that they were underutilized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

occultmorning'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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Alcohol

kingsteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent