Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Holly

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

eadrianschmitz's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

What a horror! Really enjoyed this and love that Jerome and Barbara are still with us for the ride. Holly didn't seem as neurotic as portrayed in the prior three novels which I kinda miss but it shows her growth which I'm pleased with.

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jesshart8's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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mccormicke2's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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klosterphobia's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

3.25

Holly is a novel that undeniably offers a fun ride, yet it falls short in several critical aspects. While Holly herself emerges as a likable character, the predictability of the plot and its fanfiction-like quality, coupled with a tinge of self-indulgence, detract from its potential impact. The handling of COVID-19 and the ensuing political upheavals, although attempted, lack the depth and resonance one would expect. Stephen King's exploration of these themes feels heavy-handed and lacks the necessary nuance, especially concerning the experiences of the working class during the pandemic.

As someone who aligns with King's and Holly's liberal perspective, it's disappointing that the novel misses opportunities to delve into the parallels between the killer's obsession with health and the proliferation of dubious COVID cures, a potential avenue for poignant social commentary that remains unexplored.

A notable issue arises in the portrayal of race and violence against Black men throughout the narrative. The treatment of this sensitive topic by an older white male author feels somewhat off, with the racism exhibited by the main antagonists coming across as a caricature rather than a meaningful exploration that adds depth to the narrative.

Despite these shortcomings, King's ability to captivate readers remains powerful. Even when the "whodunnit" aspect is apparent early on, the looming sense of doom as the story progresses keeps the pages turning. However, the fairy tale-like ending feels formulaic and lacks the excitement or novelty.

Holly entertains but falls short of its potential to engage deeply with complex societal issues and deliver a truly satisfying and thought-provoking narrative.

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matty29's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.75

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dcampb201's review against another edition

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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? N/A

4.75

Highly recommend to King/thriller fans - I couldn’t put it down!

Another fantastic read by the King of Horror - now crime writer. I enjoyed this continuation of Holly Gibney’s story, having followed her through The Outsider and If It Bleeds (you don’t have to have read these books to dive right into this story as it gives you everything you need about the characters, however, I would highly recommend reading them beforehand).

King states ‘fiction is most believable when it coexists with real-world events’. Holly is set during the Covid pandemic, something King refers to frequently throughout the book. His strong political views match that of his main character’s - something that may rub some people up the wrong way…

I thoroughly enjoy King’s more recent venture into crime writing. In a way, it makes the books scarier as they are set in the ‘real’ world and document the deepest evils of humankind.

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minimicropup's review

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challenging dark emotional funny 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? No

5.0

Our home was sparkling, our dinners ridiculously complicated (so vegetarian tho) from me seeking every opportunity to listen uninterrupted. I love a good food/consumption horror. Holly and her crew are also such characters. They felt like real people I spent time with; I really miss them. And even though I wasn’t rooting for the villainry, I was captivated by their story too. It wasn’t perfection but I think that’s what I liked about it. The story had its cringe moments, but the Author’s Note, context, and a bit of patience helped me understand the intention.

Energy: Foreboding. Endearing. Ravenous.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Fictional Deerview and surrounding cities in Midwestern USA

Perspective: We mainly follow a private investigator reluctantly taking on the case of a mother searching for her missing young adult daughter, and an elderly academic couple investing in their health.

🐕 Howls: The black-and-white split in characters where vaxxed are Democrat and unvaxxed are Republican. However, I haven’t lived an American experience, so I can’t really comment on this; was it over-the-top or true to form? It just felt like a jarring Statement sometimes.

🐩 Tail Wags: Diverse ages with character development. Immersive, cinematic writing. The story. The balance of gradual suspense-building with high-stakes scenarios that I could effortlessly imagine. Capturing 2021-2022 without me wanting to put it down. The mix of nuanced and in-your-face dangers of ‘science as infallible’ contrasted with the dangers of dismissing science entirely.

🤔 Random Thoughts:

Check the content heads-up because COVID pandemic times were prominent. It brought out all my gratefulness that we are no longer in 2021-2022, while also giving nostalgic feels for the quieting down of the world. But it could be too soon, too much, or too political depending on reader experiences.
My favourite tropes + slow-burn made this a perfect match for me. If you’re looking for nuanced (or zero) COVID themes, or something where the stakes remain high and are plot driven, it could feel never-ending.

🎬 Tale-Telling: Breezy third-person omniscient narration for most characters. Non-linear but easy to follow going back to 2018.

👥 Characters: Charmingly unhinged, quirky but likeable, and everything in between

🤓 Reader Role: In the know. Hovering above the town, lurking in corners, following characters around

🗺️ World-Building: Immersive, sensory, atmospheric, intimate

🔥 Fuel: Driven by character evolution and emotional investment. Why are our villains doing what they’re doing? Does it actually work? Relatable dilemmas, mad scientist intrigue, and characters crossing paths in surprising but not contrived ways. Ultimately leading to well-timed high-stakes survival.

📖 Cred: Believable, relatable, true to reality. Moments of hyper-realism for the grittier parts of life. The crimes felt like something that could be a Netflix ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ crime doc.

🚙 Journey: Steady and attention-keeping. Like an unmapped go-with-the-flow road trip with friends, scary stories, and a cozy blanket in serial killer territory, later realizing how easily it could have gone wrong.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Forever Young. Footsteps. Car doors. Skateboards. Doorbells. Silence. Knife chopping. Aromatic roast smells. Dessert spoons clinking. Zoom calls.
Immersive, cinematic style strangeness and descriptive food and body horror
Demented serial killer psychoanalysis
Co-sleuthing with private investigator, missing persons mysteries

Content Heads-Up: Confinement (kidnapping). Food horror. Vomit, body fluids. Loss of a parent. Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease. COVID-19 (deaths, masking, vaccinations, mandates, politicization, uncertainty; character opinions; descriptive, thematic, on page). Homophobia (character views and opinions; slurs and rants on page). Racism (character views and opinions; slurs and rants on page). Smoking (nicotine; descriptive, on page, cravings). Medical-Cancer (brief; on page). Medical-Alcoholism (self-medicating; on page, descriptive).

Rep: Gay. Heterosexual. Cisgender. Black and White Americans. Diverse body sizes.

📚 Format: Everand Audio and Digital

🥰 Potential Fav of 2024.

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

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catherine_t's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

5.0

This book is a real corker! Positively edge-of-your-seat reading! Holly Gibney, owner of Finders Keepers Investigations, is hired by Penny Dahl to find her missing daughter. Bonnie disappeared three weeks ago. Penny is adamant that Bonnie didn't just leave of her own accord: she had a job she loved, plenty of friends, and her own apartment. True, she'd just broken up with her boyfriend, but he was a loser, so it was all good. Penny admits that she and Bonnie had argued before the girl's disappearance, but it was nothing.

As Holly begins to look into Bonnie's disappearance, she discovers other people have gone missing: 11-year-old Peter "Stinky" Steinman, three years earlier; Cary Dressler, stoner but all-around good guy, three years before that; and Ellen Craslow, a few months before Peter Steinman. It doesn't look like a serial killer--the victims, if that's what they are, are too different, for one thing--but Holly begins to think that the missing persons are connected. As she digs deeper, she'll uncover a horror unlike anything she's ever faced.

I'm a die-hard Stephen King fan, but on top of that, I love Holly Gibney. She started, as King says, as a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes, but she grew to be so much more. I think she's one of the best characters King has ever written; she's definitely in my top five. If you've read any of the previous books with Holly in them, you have to read this one. Even if you haven't, read this book.

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