Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Rose Madder by Stephen King

30 reviews

mia_faller's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Domestic abuse

dearcityskylines's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.75

The majority of the book itself was a good read. I enjoyed how King set up the plot and introduced the characters to the story. There were some turns in the book that were extremely tense, and I loved how Rosie continued on - but did it terrified. 

Only real issue I had was the ending. The story had a great build up, but the ending of the book is underwhelming. Not terrible, just not...tied together.

The ending with her and remember the tree seemed like a medicore ending to the horror she endured. It did add suspense, but it didn't do well for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Stalking, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs

civilchick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-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

I really loved the ending of this! What an incredible story from start to finish- but that epilogue was pure gold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

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

demiag's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

kirstyyreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Racial slurs, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Self harm

ripxw's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, and Homophobia

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

illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rose Madder has been on my “King need to read” list for a long time and I’m glad I finally read it! It’s a brutal look at domestic abuse, the dangers survivors face, and their journey to escaping. There are also some magical elements because it isn’t a Stephen King book without them! 

This novel isn’t so much horror like ghosts and killer clowns, it’s much more real. If I had read this in a different point in my life, it probably would’ve become my favorite  book. It’s full of tension, creeping dread, and truly lovable characters who you’re rooting for all the way until the end (except Norman. He’s the embodiment of evil.) This time period of King novels (late 80s-early 90s) shows a marked change in his writing, specifically the subjects that he’s writing about which coincides with his sobriety. The Losers’ Club has talked about this shift in King’s writing in great detail on their podcast, so you should probably listen to their conversations because they’re fantastic. 

There are also several Dark Tower connections mentioned throughout this novel, if you’re a Dark Tower fan!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Gore

btrz7's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gore, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence