Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Misery by Stephen King

87 reviews

ems_booked's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

This book could’ve been 100 pages and I would’ve gotten just as much from it. The writing is very lyrical but it doesn’t need to be. There is no real backstory to justify any of Annie’s actions making her feel more impulsive in a childlike way than scary. Honestly I was either grossed out or bored through the whole book…I have loved thrillers before and I really wanted to like SK but since this is my second try I think maybe I just don’t vibe with his writing🤷🏼‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Car accident, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Torture, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Animal cruelty, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

theinkdrinker's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Medical content, Addiction, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Gore, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Blood, Murder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Racial slurs

chronicreads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Confinement, Car accident, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, and Violence

kathleenwho's review against another edition

dark reflective 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: Blood, Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Drug use, Kidnapping, Addiction, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

tesslw's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

When Paul Sheldon, best selling novelist and author of the beloved Misery Chastain romance series veers off the road in a snow storm and wrecks his car, he wakes up with a strange house with Annie Wilkes as his bed nurse. As chance would have it, she’s an ex nurse herself - and his biggest fan. She also HATED his latest release. Keeping him captive in her house, Annie is determined for Paul to right his wrongs and give her the book ending she feels she and Misery deserve. She tells Paul he’s lucky to be alive… but boy does she have ways of making him wish he were dead. 

This was my favourite SK book I’ve read so far (though Pet Sematary,  Salem’s Lot and IT are all still yet to come!). I enjoyed the sheer lunacy that soaked through the pages, and the creeping sense of unease (and honestly, impending doom) that deepened chapter by chapter. The depth of character in both Paul and Annie really kept me sucked in as they both had elements of being entirely insufferable (although insufferable probably doesn’t really cover the bounds of Annie Wilkes’ behaviour and capabilities….!) . I swear to god this book had me sweating at points, it was TENSE. It’s also gruesome and psychologically gruelling so…. If that’s not your bag, I would veer away from this one. 

Additionally I would like to note that there are definitely some questionable racial language and stereotypes that I do not condone, but I do also acknowledge that this was published the best part of 40 years ago. I also borrowed this from my local library, so did not contribute any money to King by reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, Medical content, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Racism

rmphyllis's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Addiction, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Child death, and Animal cruelty

kirtreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I have read a fair amount of Stephen King so I thought I knew what I was getting into. This book is a lot more graphic in terms of body horror and gore than his other books. It’s also such a good character driven novel that it never feels like gore for gores sake. I couldn’t believe how well the slip into madness for both the characters were portrayed. I felt like they were real people ready to walk out of the book. Great read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Medical trauma, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Car accident and Child death

raesansom's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Car accident, and Racism

karendarias's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Murder, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Blood, Death, and Car accident

ariel_is_a_dreamer's review against another edition

dark tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I like the commentary on the writing process, the metalinguistics of the book. The rest is basically just gore and torture tbh. I got bored a little.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Death