Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Holly by Stephen King

49 reviews

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Body horror, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Suicide, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Outing, Stalking, Violence, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Addiction, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Confinement, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Dementia, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

jesshart8's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Racism, Cannibalism, and Chronic illness

mccormicke2's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Cannibalism, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Violence, Police brutality, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Dementia, Alcoholism, and Mass/school shootings

growfromit's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, and Death

dcampb201'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? 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism

muteoflight's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Read from cover to cover. A classic murder “mystery” with a smart and strong female lead. I have yet to read Mr Mercedes and it’s two sequels so I will be adding those to the list,  because like Stephen, I now love Holly too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Racial slurs, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

alineh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, Blood, Homophobia, and Racism

catherine_t's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kalaser's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Dementia

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Child death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

laynerinke's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Cannibalism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gore, Confinement, Child death, Dementia, Drug use, and Grief