Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Holly by Stephen King

7 reviews

eadrianschmitz's review against another edition

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

ghesscaple's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction

yellowpurple500's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An incredible book to carry on the Holly Gibney character. The plot kept me hooked throughout, I never wanted to stop reading. King has once again delivered an incredible book. 

At first I was a bit unsure about the inclusion of Covid and some other clear real world parallel events however after reading the end acknowledgements, I'm so glad that's the direction king went, it makes so much sense for the character. Also could someone explain to me why the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section at the end had me tearing up. 

Definitely read this after the Mr Mercedes trilogy, outsider and the short story in if it bleeds if you want to avoid spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Stalking, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Body horror, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Police brutality, Racism, Torture, Death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Vomit, Addiction, Dementia, Medical content, Misogyny, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Child death, Gore, and Hate crime

booking_along's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.25

„thanks for coming to another dark place with me“ is the last line of Kings in his authors note of this book.

and i don’t think there is a much more fitting way to describe this book and its story. 

it’s a dark place with monster waiting. 

i personally love Kings books the most where it shows the horrors of humanity - don’t get me wrong he also has good stuff with supernatural elements (the rest of the Holly saga comes to mind especially with review this last book of that series) but i think that he twisted dark places King can take the reader to with his human monsters? those are just horrific in realistic real life ways that make the entire reading experience especially creepy or thrilling or horrific (pick your own emotion!) 


this book is a slower paced crime book that takes you along while characters try to solve a mystery the reader already knows the answer to because we as the readers also get the perspective of the bad guy. 

do it’s not a typical thriller where we have to wait with a racing heart what’s going to happen and flip pages until the jog reveal to learn who’s done it.


i personally didn’t mind that at all because especially the last 50-80 or so pages where enough of a heart racing moment for me with all the horrific small moments of the book that i didn’t need to also have the added layer of having to try and figure out who is doing it. 


i liked following along how Holly is trying to puzzle it out and work through the case while knowing where she had to end up to be right. 


BUT if you don’t like that? this book isn’t for you. 
if you don’t like Holly as a character (i understand she can be polarizing) don’t read a book that has her name as a title! it specifically tells you who the book will feature a lot! 
if you dislike slower pace and a bit of a ramble along? not the book for you. 
or if you dislike a real horror that some humans are capable of? pick something else. 


i enjoyed all those aspects! 
they made this book as good as it was for me. 


i found the parts where Barbara and Jerome were more in focus -Barbara had a bigger role in this story- a bit too long and could have lived with shorter sections from them. but overall they weren’t bad or boring, i just felt like the dragged the story out a bit and i didn’t really feel it needed that. 
but they are great characters and i am happy to have gotten more from them after having finished the book. 


now the horror aspect of the book: 
no spoilers but no supernatural elements. 
i don’t think that’s a spoiler because it makes a decision to read or not to read especially a book with horror elements easier for many.

i as already mentioned, find human and what they are capable of more horrific than a fictional monster. 

so if i want a real horror that will keep me up longer than i wanted to be up and actually feel uneasy? i need this books kind of horror - humanity and it’s horrific sides. 

but if you prefer monster? this book is more of a crime story for you and won’t give you want sour looking for. 
reread the others that feature Holly and get your fix there. 



all in all? 
i enjoyed it - a lot. 

i would have loved it a bit more if the pacing would have been a little faster, some sections cut a little shorter and maybe the book would have been 350 pages (so almost a hundred pages shorter) because it wouldn’t have been as slow and meandering in some sections.


as it it’s ist well done and i enjoyed it a lot and i especially love the last section where it picked up speed a bit. 

but i overall mostly enjoyed this because  Holly is a fantastic character to me. i just enjoy her and i do love that King himself can’t seem to really let her go either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Torture

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Medical content, Murder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Violence, Chronic illness, Dementia, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Lesbophobia, Racism, Torture, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Police brutality, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Classism, Body horror, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Terminal illness, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

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”

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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

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content