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breezrose's review against another edition
The story took a marked shift about halfway through when a character was introduced who was the victim of SA. The way King had Billy react to the character and her situation was disturbing and difficult to read. I was a bit surprised (maybe I shouldn't be?) that King didn't a. ask why an abused woman needed to serve as a plot point and b. if it was absolutely necessary to the plot (?) why he didn't attempt to handle it with more care. I immediately put the book down during a particularly disturbing passage.
Billy Summers was also a veteran, and while I don't mind hearing about those experiences to an extent I could have done without the xenophobia. I definitely wasn't the target audience for this book.
I was invested in the story up until that point, so I was disappointed. Billy Summers was devoid of personality and....an aspiring writer, but the hit man's "last job" plight had me turning the page. Based on reviews I read about the direction it took I made the right choice to stop reading when I did.
Billy Summers was also a veteran, and while I don't mind hearing about those experiences to an extent I could have done without the xenophobia. I definitely wasn't the target audience for this book.
I was invested in the story up until that point, so I was disappointed. Billy Summers was devoid of personality and....an aspiring writer, but the hit man's "last job" plight had me turning the page. Based on reviews I read about the direction it took I made the right choice to stop reading when I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Sexual assault
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Pedophilia
ashuhlee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and War
bolivianrash's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The first half was 4/5 with a riveting plot. But at about halfway is when the entire story changed and was less enjoyable. For some reason there were several misogynistic paragraphs that crept their way in the latter half of the book. It’s obvious that Alice is a character that was written by a man. The older-man-young-woman trope doesn’t sit right with me. The last 100 pages were a bore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Drug use
booksbri's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Vomit
madalina0_0's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, and War
rnbhargava's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This mostly character based crime story about a former army sniper hit man is surprisingly quite charming and tender in some aspects, tense, hard boiled and action packed in others. Excellent read. I’m glad this is my first Stephen King.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
There’s child death, rape, various abuses and war throughout the story as key elements. There’s also a pedophile that’s a target in the story. They share base information about his heinous acts to fully condemn him. This is a crime story so many characters are unsavoury in varying ways. I may have missed some triggers.snootle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
This felt like 3 stories in one that were disconnected. The first half of the book was slow and hard to get through, but the action picked up and had me interested. The book was maybe a little too long, with a lot of detail and filler that felt irrelevant. The ending is what pushed this to 3 stars for me, although I found many moments in the relationship between Billy and Alice questionable and dodgy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail
lamianoctalis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
4.25
Wie immer ein interessanter Roman von Stephen King.
Ich muss sagen, am Anfang war ich nicht überzeugt von Billy, aber im Laufe der Zeit ist er mir ans Herz gewachsen und die Minuten flogen nur dahin. Ich glaube, das war der erste von Kings Romanen, wo ich nicht zwischendurch überlegt hab, ob ich nachts einschlafen können werde, was aber absolut nicht negatives ist. Ich habe gelacht, Tränen vergossen, mit gefiebert und war entsetzt und entrüstet. Die subtile Einbindung anderer Bücher hat mir auch gefallen, sodass ich mich echt fragte, ob noch mehr aus den vergangenen Geschichten übernommen wird.(Das war nicht der Fall, aber das Hotel hat mich echt schaudern lassen)
Das was mir in der Vergangenheit bei Büchern von King nie gefallen und mich stets aus der Geschichte gerissen hat, waren die vulgären Ausdrücke und Objektifizierungen, die Frauen beschrieben haben (ich verstehe, dass sie ein Ziel verfolgten und natürlich die Geschichten aus einer Zeit stammen, wo noch nicht so viel darüber nachgedacht wurde), das war jedoch in Billy Summers nicht der Fall. Man merkt, dass sich Kings Schreibstil (oder der der Übersetzer) geändert hat und ich würde sagen nur zum Besseren. Personen, die man hassen sollte, hat man gehasst. Personen, die einen anekeln sollten, haben einen angeekelt und Personen, die man mögen oder sogar lieben sollte, hat man geliebt.
Und überhaupt nicht Nebenbei bemerkt, hat David Nathan sich selbst übertroffen in der Vertonung.
Ich kann Billy Summers (insbesondere als Hörbuch) nur jedem wärmstens empfehlen, egal ob King Fan oder Neuling (oder Überwältigter von der Dicke seiner Bücher).
Ich muss sagen, am Anfang war ich nicht überzeugt von Billy, aber im Laufe der Zeit ist er mir ans Herz gewachsen und die Minuten flogen nur dahin. Ich glaube, das war der erste von Kings Romanen, wo ich nicht zwischendurch überlegt hab, ob ich nachts einschlafen können werde, was aber absolut nicht negatives ist. Ich habe gelacht, Tränen vergossen, mit gefiebert und war entsetzt und entrüstet. Die subtile Einbindung anderer Bücher hat mir auch gefallen, sodass ich mich echt fragte, ob noch mehr aus den vergangenen Geschichten übernommen wird.
Das was mir in der Vergangenheit bei Büchern von King nie gefallen und mich stets aus der Geschichte gerissen hat, waren die vulgären Ausdrücke und Objektifizierungen, die Frauen beschrieben haben (ich verstehe, dass sie ein Ziel verfolgten und natürlich die Geschichten aus einer Zeit stammen, wo noch nicht so viel darüber nachgedacht wurde), das war jedoch in Billy Summers nicht der Fall. Man merkt, dass sich Kings Schreibstil (oder der der Übersetzer) geändert hat und ich würde sagen nur zum Besseren. Personen, die man hassen sollte, hat man gehasst. Personen, die einen anekeln sollten, haben einen angeekelt und Personen, die man mögen oder sogar lieben sollte, hat man geliebt.
Und überhaupt nicht Nebenbei bemerkt, hat David Nathan sich selbst übertroffen in der Vertonung.
Ich kann Billy Summers (insbesondere als Hörbuch) nur jedem wärmstens empfehlen, egal ob King Fan oder Neuling (oder Überwältigter von der Dicke seiner Bücher).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, and War
Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
unaesthetic_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Murder, and War
nikimorr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Billy Summers may be my favorite character by Stephen King. I felt personally connected and attached to him. I never stopped rooting for him. Billy knew who he was and lived with it - not a perfect person but an aware one.
I loved the first part of the book the most when Billy is living under a fake persona. He’s living a conflicted life but maybe is learning what it is like to live a “normal life” for the first time ever. That part of the story isn’t tied up perfectly, but it is left exactly as it should be. I appreciated that this part of the story could not realistically be wrapped up for Billy and therefore couldn’t be wrapped up neatly for the reader. Reading Billy’s autobiography was heartwrenching and a wonderful aside to the main story.
The introduction of Alice at first felt to drag a bit, but then I realized the importance of building their relationship to make the subsequent events seem realistic. It truly is like multiple books in one.
The only reason I gave 4.5 stars versus 5 is that I did not love the final “hit” for Billy. It felt very rushed and the storyline made me squeamish.
The ending, however, was incredible. It ended exactly like it should have - but boy did I cry!
I loved the first part of the book the most when Billy is living under a fake persona. He’s living a conflicted life but maybe is learning what it is like to live a “normal life” for the first time ever. That part of the story isn’t tied up perfectly, but it is left exactly as it should be. I appreciated that this part of the story could not realistically be wrapped up for Billy and therefore couldn’t be wrapped up neatly for the reader. Reading Billy’s autobiography was heartwrenching and a wonderful aside to the main story.
The introduction of Alice at first felt to drag a bit, but then I realized the importance of building their relationship to make the subsequent events seem realistic. It truly is like multiple books in one.
The only reason I gave 4.5 stars versus 5 is that I did not love the final “hit” for Billy. It felt very rushed and the storyline made me squeamish.
The ending, however, was incredible. It ended exactly like it should have - but boy did I cry!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War