Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Gerald's Game by Stephen King

47 reviews

meliacartin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

this was………. a lot. this was SO much. this book took me months to get through because it is so slow and so dense but it wasn’t a book that i found myself bored by (for the most part). yes the book took forever but the pacing of the book is very reflective of jessie’s experience of being literally chained to a bed in the middle of the woods for like 28 hours. i have several criticisms of this book but the pacing isn’t one

the scene with the broken cup i had to skip because of how intense and graphic it was, same with the eclipse scene. while i understand why the cup scene was included, but it felt odd to me that the eclipse scene went into such incredible detail of the abuse that jessie endured. i think it would have been more effective had the reader been left to connect certain dots, rather that being given a play-by-play

because of how drawn out the book was, it took forever to get to what the ACTUAL plot was. for that reason, it felt really out of left field to me. i’d spent so much of the book thinking it was just going to be an escape plan that the inclusion of That One Guy didn’t make a ton of sense to me? like it did but it didn’t, i don’t know. this is a very poorly worded review lol

the end was a little meh for me. the book felt like it just kept going, trying to explain more and more and more. it would have been fine to leave certain things more open-ended or not as black-and-white

idk. for my first stephen king novel, i think this was a good choice. but i did not expect this to go the way it did at all when i first started it. i doubt anyone will read this before reading, but if they do: PLEASE heed the content warnings

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

reading__redhead's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

antireading's review against another edition

3.25

Was good but damn sometimes King cannot write women for shit

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Excrement, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

shawn_martines's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Stephen King makes situations real through his writing. Although all taking place in one setting with one person, this story was larger so captivating the pace does not drag. The only thing preventing book from a 5 was the Shamalan esque end that although hopeful was entirely unexpected and slightly more disappointing than what the reader expects to happen.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

sirbellows's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

SUCH A GOOD STEPHEN KING BOOK. This was peak King: claustrophobic terror of the mundane through a plot that is so primally horrific. There’s a depth to the MC’s backstory as well that made the story read as a bit more important, and the “supernatural” elements were just grounded and realistic enough to give me actual, real-life shivers. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Body horror

story_thief's review

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

oprah_wimpy's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

I love Stephen King. But the subject matter of this one was hard to stomach even as an avid reader of his works. PLEASE check the trigger warnings before attempting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

lay_kone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Cannibalism

veronikar's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

axylbird's review

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Animal cruelty