A review by zosiablue
Holly by Stephen King

dark 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? No

3.5

Didn't expect Stephen King to write the most COVID-based book I've read yet, but dang. And it's 2021 COVID, too, which was startling in how different we treated it then - people still wore masks and bumped elbows and worked vaccines into every conversation. We were all obsessed without knowing it and King captured that. 

This was also his most openly political book to date - not only does he satirize health nuts who are also anti-vaxxers (an elderly couple turns to cannibalism as a health cure, but thinks COVID is fake), but he spends a good deal of time excoriating the right-wing fringe. Listen, I'm not complaining. I'm on his side! But the murder mystery - which was fascinating! - was often drowned by all this other stuff. And Holly as a character seems dulled in this iteration, though maybe that's part of her arc - the healthier she gets, the more boring she becomes. Not a bad moral.

I had a good time reading (except when I had to think about COVID). And hey, Willa from Succession narrates the audiobook! (She also played Holly in a TV version.) 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings