Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Billy Summers by Stephen King

17 reviews

eternlbloom's review

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders

ju_harue's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Foi meu primeiro contato com a escrita do King, e achei que foi um ótimo início, embora a escrita seja bem prolixa, a construção de personagens dele é ímpar, o que motiva a leitura até o fim.
Relacionar a história de volta ao passado, com o ato libertador de colocar em palavras, através da escrita de um livro, foi ótimo.
Camadas de densidade de cada personagem que vai aparecendo, até culminar em transferir talvez o cargo de protagonista vs enredo, achei maravilhoso. Me motivou a ler mais obras.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Abandonment, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Genocide, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and War

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

marine2907's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Pedophilia, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Vomit, Cursing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, War, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

jnlundy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Islamophobia

lukerik's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.0

An appalling hypocrite suffers a mid-life identity crisis and begins a process of self-examination, looking for some sort of redemption, but when faced with the choice can’t save himself. Stephen King, the bastard, somehow makes you feel sympathy for this scumbag. The ending is particularly well done. 

The only real problem with the novel is the psychology of the supporting characters. Alice in particular needs a lot of work. The entire supporting cast seems to love the protagonist within seconds of meeting him. But they do so for the same reason we do: because Stephen King has told them to. At lot of the instances you miss as you read as they seem reasonable at the time and the pace is break-neck. Others you can squint at as you go. But as soon as you pause and the spell breaks for a moment… My advice would be to read the whole novel in one sitting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Violence, and War

emmasbookishself's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

Strong dialogue and likeable characters have made this an unforgettable book. 

Billy Summers is a hired hit man, and he’s about to finish his final job. He immerses himself in this new community under the guise of a writer, working on a book. He becomes a neighbour and a friend, all while discovering that he’s enjoying writing… His own story. 

This last job takes a turn when Billy accomplishes his final hit, but he doesn’t comply with the provided out. He fears it’s a set up. Billy manages to hideout under yet another identity but once again it gets messy when he discovers a young woman, Alice, beaten and bloody, left in the ditch outside his home. 

The pair take to each other, and soon they’re two outlaws on the run together… 

This kinship between Billy and Alice, could it be Stockholm Syndrome, or could it be two lost souls coming together to find a way to heal?


I felt very connected to the characters and was desperately hoping for a “happy” ending.. or as happy of an ending it could be. In a way, it was.. Alice gets a chance to start fresh and be whoever she wants to be. I think by Billy helping Alice accomplish that, it helped absolve some of the guilt he felt surrounding his sister’s death. 

There are a lot of triggers in this book so be sure to check trigger warnings before reading!! 

Favourite quotes: 

“Fucking Marge!!” 

“A stranger came, and he turned into a neighbour, but here’s the punchline, he turned out to be a stranger all along.” 

“She’s in love with you, and she’ll follow you as long as you let her, and if you let her, you’ll ruin her.” 

“When you give pain, it leaves a scar. It scars your mind, it scars your spirit, and it should because hurting someone, killing someone is no little thing.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Murder, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Pedophilia, and Violence

readerette's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.5

There were a lot of distractions from the story for me, though I wouldn't necessarily disrecommend the story. Basically I could have done without the whole first half with all the minutiae of Billy's daily life leading up to the hit and his "dumb self" writing. There were so many Trump references (as if King were using this book to process his despair over Trump becoming President). The only gay person identified in the story got an extremely stereotypical portrayal. I couldn't get over the unbelievable amount of bungling Billy did given his supposed reputation as an excellent assassin. And then there was Alice: the use of a horrific crime to bring her into Billy's life (couldn't possibly have given him a sidekick any other way, of course), she didn't seem to have all that much trouble with what happened to her (outside of nightly panic attacks), and the characterization of the relationship between Alice and Billy disturbed me given the circumstances under which King had them meet. Billy as a character also felt overworked to me, like in an attempt to make him seem as complex as a real human, King have him one or two too many quirks. The Easter eggs were distracting to me, but bigger fans might appreciate them.

All that frustration for me as a reader, and it seems Alice will not even publish Billy's opus because she's worried about repercussions, but for whom? Billy's dead, and she can change any names or events she wants, and leave out anything that seems overly incriminating. So... I'm confused.

The last 50 pages were pretty great, though. The ending was somewhat predictable, but not its details. In that part of the book I finally felt enough for Billy and Alice that I hoped everything would turn out for them (all the distractions mentioned above stopped and it just came down to the core of the story and the people in it). If you like thrillers and "bad people" getting what's coming to them, you could do worse than this one. But it's not The Body, which I consider a far superior Stephen King story (also far more concise).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, War, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Confinement