Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Misery by Stephen King

40 reviews

tyelperinquar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

Funny that the last book I finished before my reading break was a King book and this book, the one that got me back into reading again, is also a King book.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. Everything takes place within Annie Wilkes’s house, and the tension in the book comes from wondering what Annie will do to Paul next, and wondering if Paul will be able to get out of it alive. (Can you, Paulie?)
For fans of more traditional thrillers, there may not be enough action, because there’s a lot of Paul writing and a lot of him just being cooped up in the bedroom Annie keeps him in. But for people who enjoy psychological thrillers, tense character interactions, exploring the psyche of the main characters, and watching how a traumatic situation can change a person, there’s a lot to enjoy.

This is only the second King book I’ve read, but the guy’s a bit weird about sex. There are some non-rape situations in the book that he describes as rape which are really uncomfortable to read, but I guess that’s the goal? Still, I don’t  particularly appreciate them. That’s the one thing about King’s writing that irks me— otherwise, I adore how he’s able to craft a narrative and portray characters and the scenes they’re in.

I listened to an audiobook recording of this book— Lindsay Crouse was a phenomenal narrator. Her voice for Annie was absolutely spot-on, and the emotion she can conjure up made the story that much more immersive. Highly, highly recommend giving it a listen for her voice work.

I was really worried the book was going to end with

the scene where Annie chops Paul’s head off

, but that ends up not being the case. Thank God. Figuring out the details at the end about

where Annie was found in the barn and how she was holding a chainsaw

… that was chilling.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Very easy to listen to and pick up. And what can I say, I love reading about men who get into awful situations and are traumatized about it. It’s cathartic. Thanks for your service, Paulie!

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness

There’s no actual rape, but King describes several non-rape situations (ie.

Annie performing mouth-to-mouth on Paul and Paul stuffing paper down Annie’s throat

asurasantosha's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not my style, not my genre, BUT it's a good book and Stephen King is a household name for a very good and very valid reason. He sure can write. There's so much tension in this book!!! Even though there aren't really any "surprises" or twists- I very much knew how the entire book was gonna go- I was still on the edge of my seat the whole time and audibly gasped multiple times due to the intensity of the scenes and how well he pulled the reader in.

It also had a good plot, good prose (though genre-appropriate), and real-feeling characters. Good exploration of the human psyche and human condition for both of the main characters: the perpetrator and the victim.

There's a fictional book in this book and "excerpts" from it and, as contrived as the fictional book was, it also honestly didn't sound terrible. I'd read it. Lol.

So I'm not sure if I'll continue reading Stephen King as I'm not a fan of horror and will need to recover a little from this experience, but I'm still glad I gave this a shot. And I think anyone who can tolerate horror should give him a chance, at least for one book. And this is a good one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I have such a love/hate relationship with Stephen King's work. This one is by far the best I've ever read. It's perfectly dreadful, and even though I'd seen the film, I still found myself nervous as to what was going to happen.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs and Car accident

Minor: Rape

alvinsjoo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Very suspenseful and fantastically written! Now I don’t have many books to compare it with but it’s hard to imagine any other book to be better than this one, so it’s five stars for me! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

toniw315's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

This book was a disappointment. I didn’t hate it but didn’t really like it either. It takes awhile to pick up and the sections of Misery Returns were long and irrelevant to the actual plot. Very tense with well done suspense. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

etherealsuju's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

yoonkins's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

I love the descriptions of pain, as dark as that seems to write. It made me uncomfortable, as though I was feeling it myself. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence

ameliac3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

slaywithsteph's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Car accident, and Dysphoria

Moderate talk of death of infants, killing of infants

bella613's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was my first Stephen King novel (although I have seen some other movie adaptations) and… wow. Very well written. As hard as is it to listen to in some parts, it is definitely worth the read (or listen) and did not disappoint. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who likes the horror genre. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence