Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

40 reviews

jomojobo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wow. Wow wow wow. Talk about a tense emotional roller coaster! As usual, King brings characters to life in a way that few other authors can. Their motivations, emotions, and responses feel realistic, even when the plot requires suspension of disbelief. Though this isn’t necessarily a “horror” novel, it’s plenty horrific, and even the slow parts maintain a sense of foreboding. Our antagonist and his thought process are also particularly relevant given the state of the alt-right manosphere today.

There was a stretch of several pages (and there is always a stretch of several pages in a King book) that I just skipped right over because it was too distressing.

Freddy’s final disposition.

 

I wasn’t sure while reading if I would continue with the series, but after finishing Mr. Mercedes I will definitely be checking out book #2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, and Classism

tupeloallie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Hate crime, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Gaslighting

jackbifrost's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Incest, Racial slurs, and Death of parent

ultramariikka's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

outofthepinksky's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, and Police brutality

marleens's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

For some reason I had completely missed the fact that this is a thriller instead of the horror I usually read from Stephen King. Not that I don’t enjoy thrillers, but they can be a bit hit or miss, especially police thrillers like this one turned out to be. Luckily we also got the POV of the villain of the piece, which made all the difference. If we had only stuck with Hodges, I might not have enjoyed it as much. I did miss King’s usually horror writing a bit but I had a good time with this one and might continue the series later. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

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 some racism and shock value (only thing stopping me from giving it a 5), so proceed with caution.

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

idk_indigo's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Okay, guys... hear me out but... I think the character Jerome might be black... I could be wrong though, please don't cancel me

Mr Mercedes was my first finished Stephen King novel, and I think maybe a combination of the very white author constantly using racial slurs and the very white narrator constantly saying them, just turned me off so much. I felt like Jerome could not be mentioned once in the entire book without reference to the fact that, yes, he's black. But wait, guys, it's okay that he's black cause he's applying to Harvard and Yale. Like, everyone who meets him points this out and it's constantly brought up as, like, part of his character and I genuinely don't think "Jerome" was ever alone in a sentence without "black." Like, girl... 

Sort of similar to Hodges being fat, though there weren't so many comments about weight, but like I don't think I've heard so many fat jokes in a single book before. Like, Hodges fucking hates himself and cannot even talk to his girlfriend without being like "Woe is me, I'm so fat, how could you ever love me?" Or to his neighbor Jerome without a couple self-deprecating jokes about needing to lose 50 pounds. And like how old he is, too, but then he mentions being 62 at some point and I'm like, where is the old?? I felt sort of like Hodges was meant to be a grumpy old man character-turned heartfelt fatherly figure bc of the love from his community, which we all know I love <3 Maybe this trope doesn't work too well with the genre because I was like, girl shut up, you're ugly. And fat too, apparently. Don't care. I hated his character, he drove me nuts & was hella sexist and even openly admits to not taking women seriously because they're "crazy" and women. Then at the end he

fucking has a heart attack, probs because he's so fat

The villain/antagonist/perp (not too familiar with the genre, so what's the correct term here?) was I think influenced by like Ted Bundy and other serial killer types, complete with killer Freudian mommy issues. He was very unlikable, which I guess is one thing King did right bc I am sick and tired of these characters being "undercover misunderstood good guys." 

Overall.... idk what to tell you. I'm glad I tried out a King novel. However, I believe I will stick to girly horror from now on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide attempt

Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Stalking, and Death of parent

eadrianschmitz's review

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

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.

itsheyfay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy