Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

30 reviews

michaelavictoria's review against another edition

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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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sydgolt's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny 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

5.0

This is why Stephen King gets the hype he does. This book was dark and twisted but also full of love and friendship and bravery. writing from the perspective of both the hero and the villain was so fascinating and, no doubt, challenging. Getting into the mind of someone as unstable as Brady Heartsfield is a testament to the dedication King puts into his books. 

I had so much fun listening to this. I went in blind and, to be quite honest, with low expectations. In my experience, over hyped authors with the number of books that King has tend to disappoint me (with some exceptions of course). But i was beyond pleasantly surprised by this book! It’s not one I’ve heard any reviews about and I’m shocked, because it was just so good. 

I have some issues with how he wrote about the women (making unnecessary comments about their breasts). While those comments are a little icky, they didn’t take away from the quality of the writing or the plot. 

Overall, I love this book, I love King’s writing, and I can’t wait to read more from him!!

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yodamordecai's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a nice easy read. The last 50 pages were some of the most tense and enthralling I have ever read, which  bumped this up from a solid 3.5 to a 4.5. There is some stuff that doesn’t really make sense, like why is this seventeen year old with a healthy social life spending so much time with his elderly neighbor? Stephen King also doesn’t really understand computers and it show. If you can overlook some of that stuff, you’ll have a really good time with this.

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thematicaudience's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

One of my absolute favorites of Stephen Kings novels, especially due to its introduction of one of my favorite characters of his, Holly Gibney. Not only that, but the mass murderer is very well written, and realistically at that. Not to mention how many twist and turns kept me engaged and loving every second of the chase.
That being said, there were a couple too many slurs being thrown around by Brady Hartsfield for personal comfort, even though they had purpose in showing his character, especially aimed at poc throughout, and disabled people later on in the novel. Holly Gibney also does not show up until about 2/3rds of the novel is done, and female love interest leading up to her arrival I did not find nearly as remarkable. Her character was bland and while I was surprised by her sudden death, I could not say I was necessarily upset by it.
 
I also am in general not a fan of sex scenes, and the ones in this were particularly hard to sit through, though skimming helped, however that may be personal preference, and they at least served a purpose.
However, ultimately, the whole thing was incredibly enjoyable and a favorite of mine. Definitely a great start to a trilogy.

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hayleymcquaid17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? No

4.25


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mahy27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.75


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sgordon00's review against another edition

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

2.5

it took me a while to finish because the first part started out so slow to build the world we were in. crazy for stephen king to use the n word the way he did tho lmao

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theimposter's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5


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booking_along's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

first read: 2016 - 3⭐️ a bit slow and unevenly paced and i didn’t love it.

second read: 2023 - 4.5 ⭐️
it’s still a bit bumbling in some places for me - i can see what i disliked in my fist read BUT  i was in the right mood this time apparently because this was great! 


i really enjoyed this! 

after that rather brutal start, the book slowly builds up and up and up and ends in such a fantastic way and even ends in a way that the reader can decide if the want to continue on with this series or not because this book actually closes in a way that works as an ending. 


i really enjoyed the characters - how dislikable the bad guy was (who gets a point of view so it’s not a “who dunne it!”) and how i slowly throughout this book i started to like Hodges. 

but i really loved the side characters in this! Jerome? great characters! and Janey was fantastic and i really love Holly! 


what i disliked was the strange sexualisation that happens in some strange moments in this book. 
the stuff with the bad guy was just …. yuck but okay he’s clearly not a good guy anyways and it adds to the whole character of how horrendously unlikable and disgusting he is. but i just didn’t need to read about it. 
the character would have been just as disgustingly unlikable and horrible without those unnecessary moments! 


but is it necessary to point out the breast of women and how they look? or how someone wouldn’t expect to have a sexual relationship with someone because they are heavier or even fat simply because they are that body type? 

why even include those things then? 



also there is a tone throughout this story that has a good amount of racist and fatphobic comments - mostly done by the bad guy but they are there. 



so i can see why i had issues with this book before because there a things in this book that are noticeable and can be grating outside of the actual main story plot and could have easily be done differently and be done better with those changes. 


but i still enjoyed this book and what the actual main plot done here! i liked how the story build up to the big finally and how it ended! 


it’s a good story, it has flaws and is not for everyone but i really enjoyed it this time around and can’t wait to continue and get more from those characters -especially the side ones!- in the next one! 


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amhud1030's review against another edition

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

3.75


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