Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Holly by Stephen King

33 reviews

nikogatts's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality and Mass/school shootings

browneyesblue84's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

I know that I am biased when it comes to Stephen Kings’ work. The man is one of my favorite authors and yes I’m a constant reader of his. I literally just finished reading Billy Summers right before I read Holly. To say that this is the most anticipated book that King has written in a while is an understatement. Holly is truly one of my favorite literally characters from such an awesome trilogy “The Bill Hodges Trilogy”. She has come a long way as a character. This is the sixth story she’s appeared in and a continuation of the short story entitled If It Bleeds which is the same title as the collection it’s from. A young girl woman goes missing, her mother is desperate to find her and hires Holly Gibney and Finders Keepers to solve the case. A few familiar character always pop up as well. 

The idea of two elderly Baby Boomers killing people and consuming them is wild. However, when you learn that they are doing this to make themselves stronger and more vital that is even worse. Did I mention these people are retired college professors? Yes, yes they are.

I always look forward to the release of new Stephen King novels. Holly did not disappoint at all. I am looking forward to the next story that Holly appears in. This is a story which is easy to read and has a few pop culture and current event references that are timely as well. I give it five out of five stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Blood

fountain_of_book's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This novel, I did not like while reading it. I had a complaints and problems, but as soon as I finished I wanted to restart it. My mind still has not wrapped around this completely as I am writing this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Murder

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

asifsyed's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

cannibalism

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

privateimposter's review against another edition

dark 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

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. Definitely worth a read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jenniferbbookdragon'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

King brings his A game to the story of Holly Gibney's investigation of the disappearance of a young woman amid her own mother's death and her partner's illness. The darkness of the secrets she discovers, along with discoveries about her family,  brings her character new challenges. I deeply appreciate her growth from timid to powerful across multiple books,  and hope she continues to appear in King's books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Dementia, and Suicide attempt

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