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theshepherdsjournal's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Death
oonareads's review
- 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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
keen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Incest, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Murder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Excrement
mackenzievirginia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Blood, Cursing, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Vomit
faulknerd865's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
caidyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I did enjoy this book, and I'm excited for it to become a trilogy, as Goodreads proudly tells me. I can see from the ending how it's going to work, but only to a certain extent. King's going to have to work some magic to drag the story line out that far, though. I would have been fine with it ending at this book, but I'm interested in finding out just how it's all going to work out in the end. Just feels like it would have ended nicely here.
The characters were the usual King formula to me. My favorite was Mr. Mercedes, to be honest. I would love to read a book all about him. Everyone else was just kind of bland to me. I expected what they were going to do, same thing with Mr. Mercedes but reading from the killer's perspective is, to me, ten times more interesting than reading from the good guy's because all the do is hunt for the killer. The killer is doing whatever he feels like doing most of the time.
I also enjoyed Holly. She was fun, seeing her grow a backbone that her cousin Olivia never grew. Jerome was a nice character as well. A bit like how many teens are with computers these days. Hodges was okay. As I said, I expected what he was going to do each and every time because there's not much he can do besides hunt for that dastardly bad guy.
I'm more looking forward to see how they're going to be further developed because it's obvious that they're all going to be back in the sequel. The ending practically proclaimed it. It's going to take quite a bit to keep it interesting besides the plot. The plot is what caught me with this book, really. Mercedes Killer. And now he's back to taunt the officer who had tried to get him. I came for the story, not the characters, if that makes any sense.
The romance, though, was unneeded. With how Hodges was searching so hard for Mr. Mercedes, it wasn't needed to add in a romantic interest that was connected with it. There was no need for it besides to make you become more attached to him, and then to make you be sympathetic towards what happened. Still, relationships and romance have never been my thing, and I don't see a point to them unless that is literally what the book is going to solely focus on or if it's something really gradual. Which this book had none of my exceptions.
Graphic: Car accident, Incest, Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent