Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

24 reviews

celina246's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

if you came here looking for a SK book because you're familiar with his work, you probably know what to expect. if you aren't - it's an excellent crime thriller, grabs you and doesn't let go til the end. but it's a veeery dark ride, full of gore and hatred and shock value (only thing stopping me from giving it a 5), so proceed with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, and Body horror

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, and Incest

Minor: Body shaming, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Bullying, Classism, Antisemitism, Pedophilia, and Vomit

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.

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

linda_wolf's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Car accident, Cursing, Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Mental illness, and Murder

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

sydgolt's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is why Stephen King gets the hype he does. This book was dark and twisted but also full of love and friendship and bravery. writing from the perspective of both the hero and the villain was so fascinating and, no doubt, challenging. Getting into the mind of someone as unstable as Brady Heartsfield is a testament to the dedication King puts into his books. 

I had so much fun listening to this. I went in blind and, to be quite honest, with low expectations. In my experience, over hyped authors with the number of books that King has tend to disappoint me (with some exceptions of course). But i was beyond pleasantly surprised by this book! It’s not one I’ve heard any reviews about and I’m shocked, because it was just so good. 

I have some issues with how he wrote about the women (making unnecessary comments about their breasts). While those comments are a little icky, they didn’t take away from the quality of the writing or the plot. 

Overall, I love this book, I love King’s writing, and I can’t wait to read more from him!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Animal death

yodamordecai's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This was a nice easy read. The last 50 pages were some of the most tense and enthralling I have ever read, which  bumped this up from a solid 3.5 to a 4.5. There is some stuff that doesn’t really make sense, like why is this seventeen year old with a healthy social life spending so much time with his elderly neighbor? Stephen King also doesn’t really understand computers and it show. If you can overlook some of that stuff, you’ll have a really good time with this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Incest, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content

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.

hayleymcquaid17's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide

mahy27's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Death, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

Minor: Body shaming and Child death