Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Misery by Stephen King

67 reviews

krmreads2024's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.75

This is my favourite Stephen King's. Definitely. Misery is so tense, agonising, horrifying and empowering. It is about an author, Paul Sheldon, who ends up in a car crash, and wakes up in the house of Annie Wilkes, who is his self-proclaimed number one fan of his Misery book series. It is a tense kidnapping story of this man trying to desperately escape the violent, unhinged and unpredictable Annie Wilkes, as he is forced to rewrite a new ending to Misery. King's magnum opus of a horror novel tackles the parasocial relationship between a super fan and their idol and when expectations are shaken when confronted by the idol's true self. This parasocial relationship is turned up to eleven in the case of Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes, then flipped on its end when both become dependent on one another, in a twisted love-hate-obsession relationship. The fact that this whole book is basically these two characters interacting with each other, trying to assess what the other is thinking, is incredibly strong. It's about authorial intent vs death of the author, and the separation of art from the artist. You can tell that some of his fears and philosophies as a writer come out to most in this novel. There are also themes of addiction and renewal. There are moments of sadness, of pain, of pure horror and of levity and triumph. Such a rollercoaster of a book that you won't want to put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Addiction

abbie_eibba's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

chsm8's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racial slurs, Rape, Vomit, and Car accident

makeshift_human_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Cannibalism

etherealsuju's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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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

tomellibee's review against another edition

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: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Vomit

emilyjarvie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Violence

brookebatesratesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Racial slurs, and Rape

northern_atheart's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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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