Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Billy Summers by Stephen King

137 reviews

melaniejmuller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Pedophilia

howdyitsash's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Trafficking

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.

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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

lindseyycash's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia and War

anderson27paige's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

Listen, I may end up changing this rating to a 5 star later because this book was PHENOMENAL. However, I classify a 5 star as having no notes anddddd I do have like one little note that I can't get over, and it is merely personal taste. The pandemic and politics were mentioned a handful of times throughout this book and I detest when books do this because it completely throws me out of the book and back into the real world, it's so jarring. I read books to escape the real world. However, I understand that this doesn't bother some people and that it gives a time stamp to King's work. There was also some predictability to the book at times, but it really was a terrific read. This is my first Stephen King novel and I can confidently say I will be reading more from him this spooky season. I highly recommend this book, it was incredible and raw you walk away thinking very deeply about who we are as people and how life impacts us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, and War

abernathy_33's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Pedophilia, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, 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

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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

nikrib's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

dorodor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book for the most part, however, it dragged a bit in the middle. I also have mixed feelings about the ending but that's a me problem, it was a great read and I would recommend it to most people.

Definitely check the trigger warnings before you start though! It discusses some quite heavy topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail