Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Misery by Stephen King

56 reviews

vercopaanir's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Some of the language definitely reflects the fact that this was written in 1985 and it felt kinda weird.  I wouldn’t consider this a scary book, but it’s definitely horrifying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

theinkdrinker's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Vomit

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Child death

lourdesslou's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kirtreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I have read a fair amount of Stephen King so I thought I knew what I was getting into. This book is a lot more graphic in terms of body horror and gore than his other books. It’s also such a good character driven novel that it never feels like gore for gores sake. I couldn’t believe how well the slip into madness for both the characters were portrayed. I felt like they were real people ready to walk out of the book. Great read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Car accident

raesansom's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, and Car accident

scarlojazzy's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishdiya's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

TW: physical and mental abuse, mentions of mental illness, violence, gore

I am as relieved as Paul Sheldon, as I type this. Finally, after what seems like years and years of torture and abuse, even though it was mere months, Paul was finally free. Like Paul used to fall through the hole in the paper while writing, I, too fell through the hole in the book and watched in horror as Annie Wilkes, Paul’s “number one fan”(and don’t you ever forget it) forced Paul to do her bidding, and punished him when he resisted.

It’s made clear in the book at the beginning that Annie suffers from a mental illness, which is never explicitly named. However, her personality, distinct from her mental illness, is obnoxious. She would blame Paul for her actions, instead of owning up, and when she did, which was rare, would do so reluctantly, and always rationalise her actions. She also had extreme notions of good and bad, was extremely cunning and lied easily and convincingly.

The story moves at a very slow pace, and although it was really interesting to get a peek at a writer’s mind, nonetheless fictional, I found myself becoming impatient. The last 100 pages or so, made up for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Gaslighting

pasavedra's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

boundforinfinity's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

'Misery's Annie Wilkes proves 5 star material. A villain with a narrative that compels and excites. Writer Paul Sheldon gives enough energy, sparky but troubled. He works a miracle on the writing and Wilkes complements his fury.
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I don't believe I have to prove how amazing both the book and the film where, but they were worth their weight in gold

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail