Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Holly by Stephen King

14 reviews

yalipopcultureads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

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

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

author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

 

 

Caveat: This review of Stephen King’s novel, Holly, is a certified outlier, but you didn’t need my opinion of King, one of the great American novelists. It features two aging emeriti professors–Emily Harris, who taught English Literature, and her husband, Rodney, who was in the Life Sciences Department. She suffered from sciatica and arthritis, and he had Alzheimer’s. Over the years they have become estranged from their respective faculties until they only had each other. The novel finds them ostracized, disrespected, and deeply in love, with only each other for support. It asks the question: what would you be willing to do for your life partner as death approaches? A touching love story. 

 

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/06/holly-by-stephen-king.html 

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.” 

Check out https://amzn.to/3vfHVqc to see my books. 

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, 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.

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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

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

zara89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

carlymb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Built on characters already known and loved. Alternative narratives of the protagonists and the murderers meant this wasn’t so much a who done it but when will they be caught. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Cannibalism

Moderate: Terminal illness and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Abortion

lady_face's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic