Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

15 reviews

eadrianschmitz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

I don't like the way he writes about the female characters, and if you can get over the unrealistic progression of the plot, it's a pretty good story. Two minor things from the first scene that drove me crazy: Costco doesn't have bags, misuse of the term "baby mama". Can recommend audiobook. Great narrator.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Addiction, Body horror, Classism, Genocide, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Fatphobia, Medical content, Blood, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, and Vomit

I don't like the way he writes about the female characters, and if you can get over the unrealistic progression of the plot, it's a pretty good story. Two minor things from the first scene that drove me crazy: Costco doesn't have bags, misuse of the term "baby mama". Can recommend audiobook. Great narrator.

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

I love the Holly Gibney character so much, and she’s brilliant here! The trio team she supports has great chemistry. Love the intergenerational relationship between Bill, Jerome, and Holly. Her mom is a bit too much to handle, and Janey needed more story, but overall, a disgusting villain and a lot of great cat and mouse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Ableism, Gaslighting, Incest, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

jonssweater's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Grief, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Classism, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Body shaming, Body horror, Chronic illness, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Misogyny, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Vomit

honkinggoose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Addiction, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

michaelavictoria's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racial slurs, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

Minor: Medical content, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Torture, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Body shaming, Dementia, Eating disorder, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, Bullying, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Infidelity

thematicaudience's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

One of my absolute favorites of Stephen Kings novels, especially due to its introduction of one of my favorite characters of his, Holly Gibney. Not only that, but the mass murderer is very well written, and realistically at that. Not to mention how many twist and turns kept me engaged and loving every second of the chase.

That being said, there were a couple too many slurs being thrown around by Brady Hartsfield for personal comfort, even though they had purpose in showing his character, especially aimed at poc throughout, and disabled people later on in the novel. Holly Gibney also does not show up until about 2/3rds of the novel is done, and female love interest leading up to her arrival I did not find nearly as remarkable. Her character was bland and while I was surprised by her sudden death, I could not say I was necessarily upset by it.

 
I also am in general not a fan of sex scenes, and the ones in this were particularly hard to sit through, though skimming helped, however that may be personal preference, and they at least served a purpose.
However, ultimately, the whole thing was incredibly enjoyable and a favorite of mine. Definitely a great start to a trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Car accident, Blood, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Incest

Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Almost all horrific acts, ableism, racism, etc are done by the main antagonist or those related to him, though there are minor instances of ableism and fatphobia put forward by who we are rooting for.

theimposter's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Fatphobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty

booking_along's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

first read: 2016 - 3⭐️ a bit slow and unevenly paced and i didn’t love it.

second read: 2023 - 4.5 ⭐️
it’s still a bit bumbling in some places for me - i can see what i disliked in my fist read BUT  i was in the right mood this time apparently because this was great! 


i really enjoyed this! 

after that rather brutal start, the book slowly builds up and up and up and ends in such a fantastic way and even ends in a way that the reader can decide if the want to continue on with this series or not because this book actually closes in a way that works as an ending. 


i really enjoyed the characters - how dislikable the bad guy was (who gets a point of view so it’s not a “who dunne it!”) and how i slowly throughout this book i started to like Hodges. 

but i really loved the side characters in this! Jerome? great characters! and Janey was fantastic and i really love Holly! 


what i disliked was the strange sexualisation that happens in some strange moments in this book. 
the stuff with the bad guy was just …. yuck but okay he’s clearly not a good guy anyways and it adds to the whole character of how horrendously unlikable and disgusting he is. but i just didn’t need to read about it. 
the character would have been just as disgustingly unlikable and horrible without those unnecessary moments! 


but is it necessary to point out the breast of women and how they look? or how someone wouldn’t expect to have a sexual relationship with someone because they are heavier or even fat simply because they are that body type? 

why even include those things then? 



also there is a tone throughout this story that has a good amount of racist and fatphobic comments - mostly done by the bad guy but they are there. 



so i can see why i had issues with this book before because there a things in this book that are noticeable and can be grating outside of the actual main story plot and could have easily be done differently and be done better with those changes. 


but i still enjoyed this book and what the actual main plot done here! i liked how the story build up to the big finally and how it ended! 


it’s a good story, it has flaws and is not for everyone but i really enjoyed it this time around and can’t wait to continue and get more from those characters -especially the side ones!- in the next one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Racial slurs, Incest, and Sexual content

lillyrose97's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, and Sexual content

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

 If there is one thing Mr. King excels at it is writing absolutely unlikable characters. Even characters that should be likeable largely have aspects that can make the reader dislike them. In some chapters this worked well and framed the event how each character saw them clearly. In other chapters the reader became enmeshed in a slog of diatribe that was a true chore to get through, even in the audiobook format. 
If you are fond of Mr. King's other works and characters you will probably like this. If you are coming in expecting a typical thriller you will not enjoy this as much. For me, despite my casual familiarity with several of King's works I found it difficult to get up to the 40% mark in the book. To the story's credit the pace does pickup upon the changing of a key character or two somewhere around the 50% mark.

The pace picks up after the death of Janey.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Child death, Murder, Incest, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Animal death, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Ableism, Sexism, and Car accident

Minor: Blood, Vomit, Excrement, and Adult/minor relationship

There is an adult/minor relationship between Brady and his mother. He claims to have been a victim of a different adult/minor relationship during his psychological torture of Olivia.