A review by krmreads2024
Misery by Stephen King

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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