Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Misery by Stephen King

21 reviews

johannesgrad's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

3.0

A bit too icky for me at times, but psychologically fascinating. Not sure why we needed the Misery chapters included…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Rape, and Car accident

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

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

randanopterix's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

A miserable book, absolutely fantastic. King’s writing gets a little corny here and there, but not enough to put me off how incredibly uncomfortable and surprisingly insightful this book can be.  Fantastic character study of the sardonically determined Paul and the insane but dangerously clever Annie Wilkes. 

Lots of King-typical stomach churning violence partitioned by moments of commentary about media creation and its relationship with the consumer/mega-fan. 

Great book!! Loved it! Terrible! Fantastic! Kind of made me want to throw up! Read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Murder

smithreads'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Medical content

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

tpliebe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

If you're a writer?  This book is about a writer's worst nightmare.  And King does this sort of thing so very well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

It's Stephen King, the dark side. And it's every writer's worst nightmare. You can tell who's a writer if you encounter a fan of King's books and you ask how many times they've read Misery. Most writers will say, once.

leanne's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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