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samilynn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Torture
imstephtacular's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
King has historically been bad at writing female characters and good endings. I’m pleased that this book is a delightful change!
I just love Holly Gibney and I’m glad King finally realized he could give a female character a full life and her own story. This is Holly’s 6th appearance and finally one where she’s the star
King’s storytelling skills are on display here— his crime fiction is always a favorite style for me. This is intense and dark and gnarly (seem out CW for specifics because this has a lot of wild content)
Know going in that this is a DEEPLY pandemic focused book. Covid is hugely a part of the plot and characters and King’s politics are also deeply embedded in the story. Not everyone will like that. I got past it and his author’s note helped.
One thing that nagged at me (that I eventually worked through while reading) was how King characterizes the villains by having them use slurs. This is not new for him, but it comes off heavy handed for me personally. But I know his writing is read by a broad mass of folks so maybe that’s ok in the long run. At least he’s moved on from “the bad guys are all fat” so “the villains are super racist”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Murder, Medical content, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Gaslighting, Racism, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Torture, Ableism, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Fatphobia, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, and Vomit
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