Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Billy Summers by Stephen King

36 reviews

lamianoctalis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wie immer ein interessanter Roman von Stephen King.
Ich muss sagen, am Anfang war ich nicht überzeugt von Billy, aber im Laufe der Zeit ist er mir ans Herz gewachsen und die Minuten flogen nur dahin. Ich glaube, das war der erste von Kings Romanen, wo ich nicht zwischendurch überlegt hab, ob ich nachts einschlafen können werde, was aber absolut nicht negatives ist. Ich habe gelacht, Tränen vergossen, mit gefiebert und war entsetzt und entrüstet. Die subtile Einbindung anderer Bücher hat mir auch gefallen, sodass ich mich echt fragte, ob noch mehr aus den vergangenen Geschichten übernommen wird.

(Das war nicht der Fall, aber das Hotel hat mich echt schaudern lassen)

Das was mir in der Vergangenheit bei Büchern von King nie gefallen und mich stets aus der Geschichte gerissen hat, waren die vulgären Ausdrücke und Objektifizierungen, die Frauen beschrieben haben (ich verstehe, dass sie ein Ziel verfolgten und natürlich die Geschichten aus einer Zeit stammen, wo noch nicht so viel darüber nachgedacht wurde), das war jedoch in Billy Summers nicht der Fall. Man merkt, dass sich Kings Schreibstil (oder der der Übersetzer) geändert hat und ich würde sagen nur zum Besseren. Personen, die man hassen sollte, hat man gehasst. Personen, die einen anekeln sollten, haben einen angeekelt und Personen, die man mögen oder sogar lieben sollte, hat man geliebt. 
Und überhaupt nicht Nebenbei bemerkt, hat David Nathan sich selbst übertroffen in der Vertonung.

Ich kann Billy Summers (insbesondere als Hörbuch) nur jedem wärmstens empfehlen, egal ob King Fan oder Neuling (oder Überwältigter von der Dicke seiner Bücher).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Death, War, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Medical content

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

Die Protagonistin wird von mehreren Personen vergewaltigt, was der Protagonist den Tätern heimzahlt

So wie zu erwarten in einem Buch über einen Auftragsmörder, werden Personen ermordet. Der Protagonist war Soldat im Mittleren Osten. Die Corona-Pandemie wird erwähnt, aber nicht weiter ausgeführt, was auf die Zeit hinweist, zu der King das Buch schrieb.

saniyamuz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Child death, Child abuse, and War

nikimorr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Billy Summers may be my favorite character by Stephen King. I felt personally connected and attached to him. I never stopped rooting for him. Billy knew who he was and lived with it - not a perfect person but an aware one. 

I loved the first part of the book the most when Billy is living under a fake persona. He’s living a conflicted life but maybe is learning what it is like to live a “normal life” for the first time ever. That part of the story isn’t tied up perfectly, but it is left exactly as it should be. I appreciated that this part of the story could not realistically be wrapped up for Billy and therefore couldn’t be wrapped up neatly for the reader. Reading Billy’s autobiography was heartwrenching and a wonderful aside to the main story.

 The introduction of Alice at first felt to drag a bit, but then I realized the importance of building their relationship to make the subsequent events seem realistic. It truly is like multiple books in one. 

The only reason I gave 4.5 stars versus 5 is that I did not love the final “hit” for Billy. It felt very rushed and the storyline made me squeamish. 

The ending, however, was incredible. It ended exactly like it should have - but boy did I cry! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, War, Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

icieri's review

emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Violence

br_wood's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

The flip at the end, going from

Billy's story, to someone else's telling of his story, to the reality

was a very clever narrative device.

Unfortunately I found the image of an

an old woman in combat gear as the agent of Billy's demise completely ridiculous. I think having her waiting in the motel room would have been less jarring.

I also found the middle portion where Billy is holed up in an apartment a slog.

King's Americana vision of multicultural neighbors having BBQs and chatting about greening up the lawn is very cute though. We should all be so lucky. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder and Child death

akvolcano's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Honestly I expected more from Stephen King. There is so much hype about him. This book is  messed up, and there is a lot of dehumanizing/gross parts that are unnecessary. The story was interesting, but it was due to the multiple personalities. I think out of all the book, I only enjoyed three or four chapters. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never really did. The writing itself wasn’t that great….I don’t see myself reading any more books from this author. He is a sick man. Don’t really recommend. #disappointedanddisgusted

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, War, Bullying, Child death, Death, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Racism, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, Violence, Xenophobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, and War

bajablasthole's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, War, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Racial slurs, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

risemini's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pedophilia, Cancer, War, Child death, Death, Rape, Vomit, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

thomasmagee_'s review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Read this in about 3 weeks, which is actually lightning fast for me. Took me four months to finish my last book, and I couldn’t wait to read through this one. My first Stephen King book, and definitely had some times where I questioned where it was going, but he pulled it all together and I’ll really miss reading it. Would definitely recommend !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Drug use and Child death

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

My first Stephen King book and yes, I cried.

I'm a fan of horror movies, but not a fan of horror books. I purposely didn't read any SK books growing up because of this. In movies, I don't get scared easily because I see ghosts upfront. In books, it's different. It makes your mind work. I have a wild imagination and can imagine more scary things. It can haunt me for weeks.

That's why when I found out Billy Summers is not a horror story but a thriller (which I love), I immediately grabbed the opportunity and bought it.

There's a reason why even after writing tons of books, SK is still a household name. He is a master storyteller. He knows how to keep you invested in the plot. He knows how to help you understand. He knows how to suck you in. For that, I rated it 4 stars.

I loved the first half of the book more than the second half. I loved Billy, Alice, and Bucky. Oh, Bucky. I would give everything just to hug him.

Overall, I loved the book, but it's not 5 stars because admittedly, the "love story" part put me off a bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Blood, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia