Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Holly by Stephen King

21 reviews

mzojo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

I feel like King gets easier to read as the years go on, and one thing I loved about Holly was that even though King wrote a young female character, she was sexualized or demeaned for being so. She was raw and real, that’s not what I normally see with male authors writing thrillers or horrors. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

maddsonny's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Story is good, hated the politics discussed every other page

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bunky_jones's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Holly Gibney is one of my all time favorite Stephen King characters. I was really looking forward to reading this book and I am so glad I did. It was a great addition to the Holly Gibney story!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Stalking

Moderate: Dementia and Murder

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

---

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

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

---

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

crystal689's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, and Stalking

maimy_santiago99's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Sexual harassment, 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

---

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”

---

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

---

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