Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Rose Madder by Stephen King

9 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

3.0

This is a tough one to try and review. On one hand, it had most of the traits, tropes and archetypes I’ve come to expect from a King novel, but on the other…it had most of the traits, tropes and archetypes I’ve come to expect from a King novel. This just wasn’t the place for them and as such, I’d be hard pressed to recommend this in good conscience to anyone. However, overall, this was an engaging novel with more than a little air punching from me by the end.

The plot concerns Rose Daniels, nee McLendon as she is impelled by a drop of blood in her bed to flee her abusive marriage, and she does so, armed with her husband’s bank card. However, her husband, a policeman, doesn’t take this well at all and pursues her across hundreds of miles and the boundaries of reality and unreality. It’s the unreality part where my feelers started to go off. The descriptions of the abuse that Rose suffers are gratuitous at best, and as ever, King pulls no punches. I just felt that with the subject matter, it really didn’t sit right with me as I read. I also felt that as the story started to explore more of the fantastical elements (yes you read that right) the abuse was almost a conduit to an expansion of his other mythology and the main story just managed to resolve and make sense by the end. Kind of. I’m not convinced though.

Norman, her husband, as a character was so brashly written and there was no nuance. It seemed like there were attempts at giving his behaviour over to some unspoken mental illness or neurological problem. I’m pretty sure if you can think of any pejorative word against a marginalised person, Norman used it at some stage. He read as a pathetic chauvinistic bigot, which he was in so many ways, but his brute strength and apparent ability to evade consequence gave him an otherworldly slant that felt like too much credit.

Rosie as a character was probably the best realised character in the book and while she made some odd choices in the way she spoke to people (her tone was indecipherable at points) she was ultimately successful as the complex heroine and the fantastical elements worked best as they pertained to the founding of her new life. Special credit also to Bill Steiner who was a gorgeous romantic core, a calm port in really choppy seas.

All in all, to try and sum this up, I enjoyed this book, but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone. It’ll be 30 years old next year and I’d say it’s showing its age quite a bit. It feels like the last bastion of a certain era of King’s oeuvre. I adore his work, and I know that he has distanced himself from this book in the intervening years - it’s easy to see why. The three stars come purely from the hopefulness I experienced for Rosie and how the unreality and reality married together in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Violence, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Torture, Body horror, Confinement, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, and Mental illness

avrorae's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Blood, Gore, Miscarriage, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Death, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent

jennalerm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Rape, Stalking, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Torture, and Gore

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Police brutality

stars_and_stags's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, however it is very much a book of its time. 

The first chapter is very dark and the opening pages are horrific to read. 

There are also quite a few words & phrases that were quite shocking to hear in 2023. 

Overall, I like the journey Rose goes on but I perfectly understand why some choose not to read this. It’s a tough read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Addiction, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.25

Another that I loved as a teen but didnt hit the same way as an adult. 

It made me more emotional this time around for sure but it was... Definitely 90s. Its always hard when King writes from his villain's perspective because they are always truly horrible and its hard to hear the language they use about other people. However it does truly make you hate Norman. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Body horror, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

dani_j_norwell's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

For me, this book is between a 3- and 4-star, but I appreciate King's world-building, character development, and use of literary devices so much, I'm pushing it up to 4-stars. Even so, I would warn Stephen King fans that this is definitely not like the other books of his you've probably read.

Personally, I'm mostly only familiar with King's most popular titles (The Shining, Pet Sematary, Misery, 11.22.63) and so I was intirgued when I found this older book of his that I hadn't heard of in an Audible 2 for 1 sale. I'm glad I listened to the audiobook for two reasons:

(1)it was a really cool experience; the production of it was excellent with music, sound effects, and background noise related to the scene AND Stephen King himself reads the parts of book that tell Norman's story but also
(2) I truly don't think I could have powered through this book if I had read it.

Rose Madder needs some serious trigger warnings.
I expected domestic violence due to the blurb of the book, but I was not prepared for how detailed and explicit it was. In particular, the book opens with a scene of Norman abusing his pregnant wife, Rose, and, as a result, she loses her baby. The way I just wrote that is ions and ions more gentle than the delivery in the book, however. Sure, it established how evil of a character Norman is from the very beginning but in a story this long and winding, I think such information could have been delivered in a less revolting manner. Aside from that, there's a lot of murdering (with graphic detail, blood, and other bodily fluids), and there's some really sickening thought processes from Norman as he loses his mind. Childhood sexual abuse is also mentioned. 

As long as you're prepared for the dark nature of this story, I think you'll find that King's real talent for creating characters with depth, flaws, and demons shines through in this book. No one person is pure evil nor pure benevolence, and King's character development clearly shows that. I found the fantastical, mythological elements of this story to be interesting, but at the same time, (not having a deep knowledge of such things) I didn't quite understand the need for so much of it. Unlike in other King novels, I felt like the story relied heavily on the symbolism of the Rose Madder painting but the significance of/necessity for that was never really made clear.

All in all, I don't think this is one of King's best works. It drags on a bit and it gets disgusting at time, but I don't regret reading it. If nothing else, it was cool to experience a lesser-known novel of a well-known author and therefore analyze all the ways in which it was similar to his more popular tiltes as well as the way it was not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Blood, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

bgmylc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Rape, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Torture

sheryl_macca's review against another edition

dark 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'm always going to enjoy a book written by Stephen King, his books are deep in my comfort zone, and this one was no different. I must admit that the premise didn't fully entice me from the blurb. I read this one initially with a note of caution but I quickly let that go and was fully absorbed.

Rose Madder is a combination of a quintessential King thriller and Greek mythology. The story is told from the 2 main characters points of view in alternate chapters which very slowly reduce in length. It's barely noticeable until the final third of the book where you are being swept into the faster pace this trick creates, like a whirlpool.

Rose Madder is brutal, tense, thrilling, violent and supernatural but it's also moving, emotional and hopeful. For me, the mirror world/largest metaphor ever used was almost too much. It takes a significant suspension in disbelief but I learned to appreciate it. 

I also found it difficult to believe that a woman traumatised by domestic abuse would so easily enter into a new relationship and so smoothly. I was rooting for them though.

My final criticism is in the very end of the book. It's hard to describe it without giving any spoilers so I'll just say that I found 'remember the tree' unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

2booksandacoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a decently paced thriller from the very first page. I was expecting a lot of scene and character development before my heart started pounding. No ma'am, not this time. 
For being such a heavy read, and by heavy I mean there is A LOT of abuse in this book. Its the entire plot. Physical, sexual and mental. 
Rose is married to a detective, their relationship started out normal. However the issues didn't start until they got married and that's when the abuse started. 14 years of abuse, fourteen years, before Rose had her ah-ha moment and woke up. One day she knew that the next time he was going to kill her, so what did she do? She ran for her life. She had moments through out the book where she was looking over her shoulder and she could hear Norman's voice telling her that he was coming for her. 
This definitely felt more of a psychological thriller to me rather than horror. The cat and mouse game through out, getting the two points of view throughout the book really gets us into the inner workings of Rosie and Norman's minds. King is the absolute best at being able to do that, and with Norman's sick and twisted mind it was quite interesting to see his side if these psychologically speaking. 
I'm going to be very blunt, this was a fucked up story. But it is well worth it if you can get through the horrifying acts of violence. 

TW: physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, murder, violent scenes, miscarriage. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Death, Torture, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Miscarriage, and Gore