Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Mr. Mercedes

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

sgordon00's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

it took me a while to finish because the first part started out so slow to build the world we were in. crazy for stephen king to use the n word the way he did tho lmao

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captain_emu's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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theimposter's review

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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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booking_along's review against another edition

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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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nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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ruthypoo2's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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? No

5.0

From the start, this book kicks off with a bang and act of sheer depravity. This opening scene of this story hits so viscerally because in just a few paragraphs, characters are introduced in a way that makes them so easy to care for even if they won't be part of the narrative beyond the first chapter. This is possible because, in my opinion, Stephen King is able to so reliably create authentic characters for whom the reader will immediately feel either an affection or loathing.

There are several distinctive characters in this story and it's a great ensemble with the story told from multiple points of view. The primary narrator is retired police detective Bill Hodges who finds himself bored and frequently despondent as he sits daily in his armchair watching TV and without the feeling that his life serves any serious purpose since leaving law enforcement. Bill is isolated with only a handful of people to interact with from time to time. This all changes when he's contacted by the villain whose crime is described in the opening pages of the book. The killer wants to remind Bill that he failed to catch them and let him know they may have a new plan to surpass the body count achieved in their last murderous act.

The book is about a twisted cat and mouse game between Bill Hodges and an intelligent sociopathic killer, each narrating their own chapters to tell their respective stories. Throughout, the reader learns about the people that Bill and the killer encounter in their daily lives. In fact, those who end up joining Bill on his quest to subvert the killer are a pure delight and where the SK sense of humor comes through load and clear. The storytelling in this book is very rewarding, giving the reader a complex character study for both of the primary characters. There's a lot of tension in the story, especially in the ending, and it was a definite page-turner for me. Constant Readers will find little SK Easter Eggs planted here and there and a joy to come across.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Will Patton who did a magnificent job voicing all the characters and bringing each to life. Mr. Patton is a stellar actor and brings his finely honed skill to create a unique voice and emotional range for each character. I'll be continuing with the next two books in this series, and I'm thrilled to see that Mr. Patton is the narrator for all the Mr. Mercedes books.

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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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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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