Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

30 reviews

renee_will's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I don't want to spend any more time thinking about this book, tbh, but I'd just like to say that it is easily the worst of King's works I've ever read. I truly do not understand the positive reviews for it, it's baffling.

Aside from the frankly dull police procedural plot, it is just deeply offensive. The language is homophobic, fatphobic, sexist, racist, ableist, the list goes on. Yes, I grasp that we are meant to dislike the antagonist, but making him possess every single abhorrent quality imaginable is just so very lazy. And it just feels gross to read, it isn't enjoyable, it's disgusting and it made me want to put it down multiple times.

And don't get me started on the pathetic boomer protagonist. Jesus, he is just the saddest white cop who ever lived. My violins couldn't get any smaller. We don't really know why he's a curmudgeon, he just is. He's not really very nice, or interesting. The fact that he is "a fat ex-cop" is repeated ad nauseum as though being fat is his only defining trait. Then there's his sidekick, a black teenager who INEXPLICABLY uses an old-timey slave affectation AS AN INSIDE JOKE. WITH AN ADULT WHITE MAN. What. And I can't stress this enough, the f*ck. And oh lord the techno-speak is like my mom trying to understand how her VCR works.

It's just not a very good detective story. It's not a whodunnit because you know whounnit the whole time. There's no mystery. Just an unlikeable grumpy vigilante making stupid decisions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty

lillyrose97's review against another edition

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

melodyseestrees's review

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

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

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

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.

maddie7217's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

2.5

There were a lot of sections that contained slurs or used poor writing to make racial stratification the butt of a joke. It felt inappropriate at times given the author’s identity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zaraha's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

cosmicbutton's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Suicide

schmitzy_'s review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Vomit

keen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement

mackenzievirginia's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Grief

faulknerd865's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Much different from King’s other books, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. No gimmicks, no crazy twists, just a good old fashioned mystery and thriller. The last quarter had me on the edge of my seat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder