Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

3 reviews

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

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.

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