Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Billy Summers by Stephen King

18 reviews

athrillerreader's review

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Islamophobia, War, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, Murder, and Pedophilia

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was unexpected. It was an ordinary book. No weird paranormal or extra terrestrial or anything else that I soils expect from King. Instead, it’s a normal assassin with a heart trope. It’s also a book within a book trope. I think this combination might be why the book was too long. It had several natural ending points that were left unused, and there were too many side stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Death, Rape, Pedophilia, Drug use, Grief, and Gun violence

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

stellavb's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, War, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

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

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

kaykay67's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I started reading this book wayback in April.  I have to admit the slow pace of this book caused me to put it down many times. Even entertaining the thought of dnf’ng it, which I have never done to any Stephen King book.  So I stuck with it and pushed through. I’m glad to say I did because the last portion of this book really saves  it, for me anyway.  Through a majority of the book I was bored, found the plot tedious, the characters kinda iffy, Billy mainly but he’s probably not suppose to be too likable considering what his profession is. 
Most of the book is setting up his job  and after his job then Alice comes in. Billy takes Alice in and here the story picks up a bit but loses its pace again. But I have to say! Stick with it if you’re finding it boring because it does pick up in the last portion of the book!  That is where I fell whole heartedly for Billy & Alice!  Two great characters and the story just pulls itself out of the muck, for me anyway!  There’s even a shout-out to an older King tale in a few places. 4.5! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Blood, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Rape