Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Misery by Stephen King

199 reviews

humanhalfofachilleus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

as with most Stephen King, it could have ended 50 pages earlier and the "creepiness" relies heavily on "gross-out" rather than true terror or horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Murder, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Car accident, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Racism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

blubunno's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Empecé la historia con toda la expectativa, hacia la mitad se me hizo medio lento principalmente porque se dividía entre lo que pasaba y la historia de Misery que escribía Paul, y las últimas 80 páginas fueron ufff. No quería seguir leyendo porque ya más o menos intuía lo que podía pasar y no me sentía lista para leerlo pero a la vez no podía no leerlo, no iba cambiar en nada que me traume ahora que después.

Algo que me gustó mucho es que Paul, al menos para mí, no es un personaje querible. Ósea en ningún momento el libro busca que empatices ni que quieras a Paul, solo que conozcas su historia y que lo entiendas. Si bien yo empatice con él no fue por ser Paul, sino porque lo hubiera hecho con cualquier persona que haya pasado por algo así. Tampoco siento que el libro busca que odies a Annie tampoco, de nuevo solo te muestra las cosas y como acciona y está en vos lo que pienses de ella (aunque creo que sí alguien simpatiza con Annie debería internarse en un psiquiátrico urgente).

No me esperé para nada lo crudo que fueron los últimos castigos de Paul. Yo venía de ver una escena de la película donde solo le quiebra los tobillos pero eso de cortarle un pie no me la ví venir. Leer la desesperación, las sensaciones y como Paul mismo vió a Annie sostener su pie ya separado de su pierna fue muchísimo; y por si fuera poco después cuando cauterizo el muñón con el soplete, dios.

Creo que a partir de ahí hubo un quiebre en la narración de Paul porque después lo sentí medio ido. Por ejemplo cuando menciona que también le cortó el dedo lo dice así nomás, pero no explica lo que pasó hasta como dos capitulos después, haciendo como un retroceso en el tiempo de los hechos. Para ese entonces en la historia Paul está destrozado no solo física sino que también psicológicamente, se sostiene a la vida no por querer vivir sino como se sostiene a la vida un pájaro atrapado en una trampa, por puro instinto.

Lo único de lo que me quejaría sería la muerte de Annie, la sentí muy tranquila y hasta pacífica para el monstruo enfermo que fue esa mujer, pero a la vez es una forma medianamente realista de que haya muerto. De hecho que lo que la haya matado no hayan sido los esfuerzos de Paul, sino el golpe en la cabeza que se dió al caer cuando él le dió con la Royal en la espalda es casi hasta tétrico. Es como que la historia te está diciendo "Paul nunca mató a Annie, nadie puede matar a Annie. Ella fue víctima de la naturaleza, de las consecuencias, pero nadie puede con ella directamente."

Mi lado sádico dice que le faltó sufrimiento a su muerte, pero a la vez me parece buen el final, tanto de ella como de Paul. Esos últimos capitulos donde se lo puede ver que, a pesar de ya estar libre, Annie lo sigue persiguiendo cada segundo de su vida y que su único escape es la escritura (como había sido su vida las últimas semanas en la casa de Annie) es medio chocante porque ves como si Paul siguiera en esa habitación, solo que en vez de escribir para evitar que Annie lo mate ahora escribe para escapar del fantasma de Annie.

Lo único que me quedó picando fue lo de las cartas firmadas como "tu fan número uno". Yo creí que iba a haber una revelación donde se dijera que esas 300 cartas al mes que recibía Paul eran todas, o en su mayoría, de Annie, pero nunca se mencionó nada al respecto. Las cartas hasta se siguen mencionando hasta el final del libro, cuando Paul cuenta como una señora recreó el estudio de Misery a la perfección y le envió las Polaroids en las cartas. Estoy 99% segura que mínimo esa señora que se hacía llamar "Virginia" era Annie. Para mí ese estudio estaba en la planta alta, lugar al que por obvias razones Paul nunca pudo acceder. Pero la historia nunca dice nada de si esas eran en efecto todas fans diferentes o si como digo yo, al menos en su mayoría eran Annie. Por motivos meramente enfermizos, y porque creo añadirían aún más profundidad a la obsesión de Annie con Misery y Paul, elijo creer que el 80% de esas cartas firmadas por "tu fan número uno" eran de ella.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood and Torture

Minor: Car accident and Animal death

etherealsuju's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, and Torture

asimpson7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This book was grim. However it was also really good. I didn’t rate it too highly though as it took me so long to get through it. Also this isn’t really the type of book I’d usually go for, it was very disturbing but also fascinating at how a whole book can be written in one place with only 2 main characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Vomit

ginniereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Dementia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Dysphoria, Murder, Gore, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Eating disorder, Car accident, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit

emmavardy2's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Car accident, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

njcarnevale's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Compared to other SK books, this one didn’t have an excessive setup to the story. The details were more gruesome than expected, but it is a good mix of horror and psychological thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Violence

sparky63's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical trauma, Drug use, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Vomit, Addiction, Car accident, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I haven’t read much Stephen King but this is still my favorite King novel.

The way Paul has to write on a typewriter with no “n” key really stuck with me. The way the “e” and “t” later fell off the typewriter was so devastating and vivid in my memory. It really goes to show how hopeless this man had become, that writing was his only escape from a messed up situation. 

And of course; there’s Annie. Annie is the worst, most hateful villainess in almost any work I can think of. I vividly remember her forcing Paul to burn his book. The disjointed pieces of Misery. And the lawnmower scene. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Car accident, Drug use, and Medical trauma

chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

My god, I mean this in the best way possible, but Stephen King is a twisted, twisted man… 😅

Paul Sheldon is a successful author and has finally finished the series that made him famous. Now he’s looking forward to doing some real writing. With a finished manuscript, Paul sets off on what he assumes will be a normal car journey. He couldn’t be more wrong. The next thing Paul knows, he’s in a strange room, with catastrophic injuries, rescued by Annie Wilkes. The good news? Annie is a nurse and has the medical knowledge and equipment Paul needs. The bad news? Annie is Paul’s biggest fan, and she’s not happy about the ending of his latest book…

This book is honestly a mindfuck… the way Stephen King is able to write these complex and evil characters so convincingly is just mind blowing, honestly. 

This book primarily features just two characters and in some cases, that could result in the book being a little boring but Paul and Annie were both so interesting and crazy to read about. From Annie’s abusive and torturous behaviour, to Paul somehow finding the strength and resilience to endure his months of agony, it honestly messes with your head. 

Overall, this isn’t a book I can necessarily say I enjoyed, just based on the subject matter, but I couldn’t put it down  and would highly recommend if you’re looking for something to make you question the state of humanity… 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Medical content, Blood, Mental illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Medical trauma, Torture, Addiction, and Drug use