Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Misery by Stephen King

17 reviews

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

zurszula's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Medical trauma

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

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

hellokatya's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

i was a little confused about the ending, still am: but the meat of the book was very good. extremely gory, hard to read at times (although you dont want to put it down), and i felt it came to be a little too caricature-y about annie. she became a sort of supervillain, took me out of the immersive reading experience. i wish she would've stayed just an insane woman. there were a few instances where i felt the scene / situation could've been tweaked to add more suspense + better pacing, but overall very well written and kept my attention.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Racism, and Vomit

begentile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

shahana_bookquoting's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is a banger in the horror genre. There are just 2 characters in 98% of the book but boy does it keep you engaged!
Stephen King is a master storyteller. The way he depicts human emotions & behavior is wonderful to see.
Misery doesn't lounge around slowly building up the pace & plot. It straight away gets into the plot you came for. King builds tension throughout the plot using emotions of fear, survival, longing, loneliness, rejection & obsession to give you an edge-of-your-seat tension filled thriller/horror. The sheer suddeness of events jolt you & it was something that I loved the most in this book. The writing is quite dense, neither very vivid nor very descriptive. King strikes a perfect balance between the two to give you enough information to paint a picture in your head.
Annie Wilkes, the antogonist of the book is brilliantly written. Plot: She is obsessed with our protagonist, Paul Sheldon, who's the author of her favourite book series. She is her #1 fan. But the problem is he has ended the series and she doesn't like it. So she 'rescues' the author who's been in a car accident, I know so nice of her! And then she forces him to write another book in the series & keeps her captive. sksksksk
The 'descent into madness' trope is something King plays well with. Unlike Shining, Annie Wilkes in Misery doesn't slowly progress into madness. She is madness. She is a character your nightmares are made of. She is evil no doubt, but at times you also can't help but feel sad for her.

Highly recommend this book for horror & thriller fans. 
Also recommended for people who wanna get into reading Stephen King's books. This is a great place to start. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Grief