Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Misery by Stephen King

236 reviews

krmreads2024'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

This is my favourite Stephen King's. Definitely. Misery is so tense, agonising, horrifying and empowering. It is about an author, Paul Sheldon, who ends up in a car crash, and wakes up in the house of Annie Wilkes, who is his self-proclaimed number one fan of his Misery book series. It is a tense kidnapping story of this man trying to desperately escape the violent, unhinged and unpredictable Annie Wilkes, as he is forced to rewrite a new ending to Misery. King's magnum opus of a horror novel tackles the parasocial relationship between a super fan and their idol and when expectations are shaken when confronted by the idol's true self. This parasocial relationship is turned up to eleven in the case of Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes, then flipped on its end when both become dependent on one another, in a twisted love-hate-obsession relationship. The fact that this whole book is basically these two characters interacting with each other, trying to assess what the other is thinking, is incredibly strong. It's about authorial intent vs death of the author, and the separation of art from the artist. You can tell that some of his fears and philosophies as a writer come out to most in this novel. There are also themes of addiction and renewal. There are moments of sadness, of pain, of pure horror and of levity and triumph. Such a rollercoaster of a book that you won't want to put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Addiction

chsm8's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racial slurs, Rape, Vomit, and Car accident

urlordlorin's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

1.75

Hayvan Mezarlığı’na göre daha iyi, O’ya göre daha kötü. Thriller olarak sınıflandırılmamalı. Thrill etmedi yani. Amerika’da artık resmen günlük rutin olmuş bir seri katil hikâyesinin 350 sayfa boyunca anlamsızca uzatılmış, gereksiz detaylarla dolu versiyonu. Kitaptaki yazarın yazdığı kitaptan bölümleri okumamızın bu hikâyenin gidişatına nasıl bir etkisi vardı mesela, Annie’nin kitaptaki bir yaratığa benzetilmesi haricinde? Yaratıcı hiçbir tarafı yok. Hayvan Mezarlığı’ndan daha iyi olmasını düşünmemin tek sebebi daha az cringey olması. Zaten çevirisi de beeerrrbbbbaaattt. Hikâye de çelişkilerle/plot hole’larla dolu.

Bana kalırsa Paul’un o kadar uzun süre kimsenin haberi olmadan rehin alınabilmesi imkansız. Amerika’da yaşıyorsunuz ya hiç Jehovah’s Witness da mı gelmiyor kapıya mesela. Polis geldiğinde de o durumdaki, sürekli işkence gören bir adam ‘offf yhaaaaa Annie şimdi bu polisleri de öldürcek yhaaaa öldürmesn benim yüzmdne .s’ diye düşünüp sesini çıkarmıyor falan. Bu kadar ünlü olan bir yazar için kimse seferber olmuyor, eşi dostu da yok kimse aylar sonraya kadar anlamlı bir search&rescue çalışması yürütmüyor öyle mi? Her şey nedense çok convenient olmuş dünyanın en aptal vasıfsız katili/kidnapperi için.

King’in yılda bir kitap falan yazıyor olmasının sebepleri ve sonuçları her kitabında çok belli oluyor. O kadar derinliği yok ki. Sanki hayatında hiç acı çeken insan görmemiş. Bu kadar zavallı bir adamla da empati kurduramıyorsan yok ol yani. Sırf gore yazarak insanları rahatsız edip süper kitap diye düşündürmek de artık moda oldu herhalde. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Car accident

beaniebabybecca's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

emisbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

i couldnt put this book down. so suffocating and gripping and gory. annie is a terrifiyingly unpredictable character. you truly get stuck inside pauls head throughout the entire story. highly recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism and Racial slurs

midnights_sky's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

makeshift_human_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Cannibalism

maratagon's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Vomit, Car accident, and Death of parent

phantomsparrow's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail