Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Holly by Stephen King

8 reviews

kfanucchi's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death and Blood

Minor: Rape, Vomit, Police brutality, and Abortion

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.

---

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

eadrianschmitz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

What a horror! Really enjoyed this and love that Jerome and Barbara are still with us for the ride. Holly didn't seem as neurotic as portrayed in the prior three novels which I kinda miss but it shows her growth which I'm pleased with.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

theraccoonqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I 👏🏻 LOVE 👏🏻 HOLLY 👏🏻

I have loved seeing her development from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy to The Outsider and now. I did not realize If It Bleeds was supposed to be read before Holly, but I wasn’t too horribly lost by not having read it. 

The Harrises were quite frankly some of the most disturbing antagonists that King has written that are just purely human. There’s nothing supernatural about them. They’re just a couple of old people who have more than a few screws loose in their heads. This was like horror and crime/mystery wrapped up into one and I was absolutely here for it. 

I felt that it was a good pace and I love that we got more of Holly’s internal push and pull on why she does what she does. Definitely a great read and I’ll recommend to anyone who enjoys horror and thriller and won’t be butthurt by Holly’s perception of anti-vaxxers.

TW/CW for this book are as follows (I added what I could remember off the top of my head but I did find a comprehensive list online for the rest):
Cannibalism 
Homophobia 
Racism
Abortion 
Cancer
COVID
Sexual harassment 
Rape
School shooting

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Cancer and Rape

Minor: Mass/school shootings and Sexual harassment

rypie1916's review against another edition

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

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

---

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

caittothelin's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Abortion

jemmabrown's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

I learned a valuable lesson reading this book - read the blurb.

I loved the Mr Mercedes series and really liked the first 2 books in the Finders Keepers series so when I saw this book I probably read the first line of the blurb and that was it. 

As a result I went on a fascinating, dark, mystery ride across American Politics, Literature and attitudes to the pandemic. 

Stephen King winds together so many threads to create a book that leaves you guessing just what will happen next whilst also creating debate on serious social issues. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Please be aware there are very graphic descriptions of things that appear in the content warnings. Particularly racism/racial slurs, homophobia/lesaphobia and graphic violence.