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Jun 11, 2011

Shane Malcolm rated it:

Stephen King novels occasionally annoy me by starting off strong but petering off to disappointing conclusions. Still, his characters and plots are almost always interesting, and none of his endings are bad enough to off-set the entire reading experience. However, Rose Madder bothered me, because he spent so much time writing a REAL story only to have it dissolve into typical supernatural fare towards the end. Yes, I realize that Stephen King is a horror writer, and I customarily love this ge More...

4 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 04, 2010

Felina rated it:

This is definately my least favorite of the King books I've read so far. I simultaniously loved and hated this book. There were no parts that I just liked...seriously I was either loving it or hating it. Clearly since I gave it 3 stars I loved more parts then I hated.

First the good stuff. As usual Kings take on a crazy person is always amazing and terrifying. My first King book was Misery and I just love his crazy villians.

I was actually getting a little bored with the b More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

Megan rated it:

While reading this book I kept forgetting that it was a Stephen King novel. It has it's twists and turns (as his usual work does) but this was so much more than good vs. evil. Rose Madder is an emotional account of an abused woman who is trying to break free from a tormenting life, and has what is portrayed as a psychological break through as she goes on a journey to be free. King also touches on the downfalls of the system that fails to protect women from situations like Rose is in. Unfortunate More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2007

Mary rated it:

Probably my favorite King book, Rose Madder contains some of his creepiest imagery and the best characterization of a woman that he's managed thus far. It's hard not to get involved in Rosie's problems as she runs from a horrifically abusive marriage. The supernatural horror aspect of the story doesn't even enter into it until fairly late in the book; King gives you the chance to watch Rosie grow and change, and to set the stage for what will happen next.

Definitely the one I would lo More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

Pamela rated it:

Not my usual kind of book. I loved the writing. I could have done without the fantasy part, but the entire book and title hinged upon it.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2008

Ubik rated it:

I would have rather given it a 3.5, but I rounded it down just on overall feeling. I didnt feel totally satisfied with it at the end. It was a good book, just not great. A few things that annoyed me was the slang/the way Norman spoke (I had to keep reminding myself that it was 1994 and not 1956) and the repetition of the characters. It was fine when both characters were separate from each other, but if theyre in the same scene, I dont need a recap on what just happened ya know. Plus it just seem More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Lynai rated it:

This is a story about a Rose Daniels, who escapes from her violent, psycopathic cop husband, Norman, and how she was able to survive in a not-so faraway city with only her husband's ATM card and the help of generous people along the way. It is more of a cat-and-mouse chase story with Norman as the predator and the Rose eventually finding the courage to be what she have to be -- strong and unafraid, including finding love in pawnshop owner, Bill Steiner. The plot is sort of John Sandford-ish in h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 24, 2008

Brent rated it:

This contains both the good and bad (well not really bad) of Stephen King. I really loved the part of the book where he descibes Rose's relationship with her abusive husband, how she breaks away finally from that and then runs away from him across the country. Norman, a police officer hunts Rose down and begins to eliminate those who try to interfere with his pursuit of his wife. Great characters who are described in depth.

The bad part of the book begins with the painting Rose buy More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Frank rated it:

This is by far one of Stephen Kings best novels! Rose Daniels is a battered housewife who, on the spur of the moment, decides to leave her ruthless husband, Norman. Unfortunately for Rose, he is a cop. As Rose enters her new life in a new city, Norman becomes the utltimate psychopath as he leaves no stone unturned and kills anyone who dares to withhold information leading to her forthcoming vengeance.
Rose finds a beautiful picture in a second hand pawn shop of a woman standing on a hill fa More...

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Aug 20, 2011

Bookrater rated it:

This is without a doubt the worst Stephen King book I've read. Why he felt the need to add the fantasy element in I don't know, but I found it absolutely ridiculous.

Norman Daniels (the psychopath husband) was almost a caricature more than a character. A purely evil, hateful man with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, yet we're expected to believe this psycopath functions perfectly well in the police force and is a highly decorated detective? Trying to imagine this man being sympathet More...

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Jan 08, 2011

Samantha rated it:

Ammetto che speravo in qualcosa di più, mi è piaciuto ma non mi ha entusiasmata. Rose Madder si lascia leggere volentieri e non si fa fatica a odiare Norman!
Mi era stato consigliato da un amico per la trama tremendamente paurosa: Rose fugge. Fugge da quattordici anni di soprusi, da un marito violento e da una vita che non promette più nulla. Ricominciare da capo è l'unica via d'uscita. Una città sconosciuta, una nuova occupazione e un nuovo compagno: finalmente tutto sembra girare per il ve More...

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Nov 15, 2010

Phillip rated it:

What would you do if you felt like you were hunted down by someone who is suppose to love you? This is the book about Rose Daniels the main character who is escaping abusive husband who is a cop. After more than a decade of abuse she finally had it and runs away with his atm card and for the first time in her life she feels that she is away and safe from all the abuse. But not only is she not safe her husband is mentally insane and wants track her down. Rose feels very paranoid trying to e More...

0 comments like

Nov 11, 2010

Madame Charlotte rated it:

J’ai lu pas mal de King, mais le dernier date d’avant ce blog, il était temps de m’y remettre et de faire baisser un peu ma PAL par la même occasion. Si Rose Madder est loin d’être le plus transcendant de ses romans, j’ai toutefois dévoré ce pavé rapidement. King se met dans la peau d’une femme battue, qui au bout de quatorze ans décide subitement de fuir l’emprise de son mari. Sa fuite inexpliquée et soudaine la conduira dans un foyer pour femmes battues, où elle apprendra à vivre en société, à More...

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May 30, 2010

Kirsten rated it:

I wanted to read Under the Dome, but it was $17 on the Kindle. Whatev', Stephen King. You don't own me. I was traveling and desperate for a book, so I browsed his other offerings. Rose Madder was cheap and I was hoping it would have some allusions to The Dark Tower that I could appreciate and feel smart for doing so. It does, which was a nice surprise, but it's very, very loosely connected. Mostly it concerns an abused wife who leaves her cop husband, becoming essentially a fugitive. (The More...

0 comments like

Mar 30, 2010

Steve rated it:

Rose Madder is part of a group of King books I had yet not read. Well, I'm glad I did. Like his best efforts, it is character driven. And in Rose Daniels/McClendon King supplies one of the best characters in all the books I've read by him. On the dark side of things, her abusive husband is one of his darkest villains. What makes both so interesting is that they are also complex. Rose, whose innocence covers a core of rage; and Norman, who for all of his brutality, is ultimately pathetic. What Ki More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2010

Lauren rated it:

Er. This book was alright. Not the best from Stephen King, who is an excellent writer in my book (And a fellow Mainer!), it just confused me in parts. I grasped what was going on in the real world, but whenever they entered the Rose Madder world, I was confused. I couldn't differentiate between Dorcas and "Rose Madder", and the scenes in the Bull Maze were odd.
However, the characters were very well developed, which always means a lot to me when I'm reading. Rosie was the More...

0 comments like

Aug 06, 2011

T. L. rated it:

All right, I didn't have anything to read new from Stephen King, so I went back and picked up one of the only books I haven't read from him: Rose Madder.

Rose Madder essentially a domestic abuse escape story with a little magic and a whole lot of Mr. King's magic thrown in. The reason I never read this thing before is that the concept seemed pretty banal to me. I have to say after getting to know Rosie McClendon and the other folks who cross her path, I began to root for her and reall More...

0 comments like

Jun 03, 2010

Andrea rated it:

Rose Madder is a story, basically (Stephen King is famous for his crazy mass of subplots)about a middle-aged woman who runs away from her abusive husband, and his chase for her, and also about her escape. Her husband, Norman Daniels, is a kind of mixed socio/psychopath. He is a cop who covers his tracks well, and knows how to blend in.

While reading this story, I thought a lot about mental health, and how society views it. I mean, I wrote a story about it, and while researching the to More...

10 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Marcy rated it:

Rose Madder was about a battered woman who started her day like most days, fighting with her husband. I could relate to that. I don't want to give it away, because it starts the nightmare for her, and is the reason that it stuck with me. Its bad enough to be married to a batterer, but when that person is a cop, the nightmare never really ends. I've known a lot of women who had this problem and the Blue Wall protects the criminals. What happens in the end, which is that she meets a nice guy and g More...

0 comments like

Aug 03, 2009

Deb rated it:

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Jan 19, 2012

Helen rated it:

This is the sort of book you want to read when you're alone and have some peace and quiet, not because it requires special concentration to get through, but because the eerie sense of impending doom it gives you is a huge part of the reading experience. It has King's expert build up and pace combined with an extraordinary ability to impart with absolute believability the thoughts, fears and hopes of an violently abused woman. There are times when the atmosphere is so intense that you want to s More...

0 comments like

May 25, 2011

Tim rated it:

There's never been a Stephen King novel that I've hated; I think he's unquestionably brilliant and one of America's most valuable literary masters. However, some of his works are better than others, and I couldn't help but think that of "Rose Madder", which I think is best described as lukewarm. Too much of what was bad was mixed in with what was really good.
The Good: Rosie's strength, her journey, and her endurance were excellent points that gave her a flesh-and-blood quality a More...

0 comments like

Oct 25, 2011

Madiha rated it:

A fine example of books that start out brilliantly, lose the grip somewhere in between, and just go downhill from there. I cannot believe I finished it. My only motivation behind finishing it was to find out if the end is really what I was thinking of. And no, it was worse.

An abused wife runs away from home; the descriptive scenes, the in-depth psychological insights about the male and female protagonists were just awesome. They hooked to me the book. And I had heard so much about Step More...

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May 11, 2009

Adisti rated it:

Buku ini menceritakan tentang Rosie Daniel yang bertahun-tahun hidup dengan pemukulan dari suaminya yang juga seorang polisi. Suatu hari ia akhirnya merasa ga tahan dan memutuskan untuk kabur. Tentu saja suaminya mengejarnya karena ga suka 'pembangkangan' yang dilakukan Rosie. Dan kali ini ia bertekad untuk membunuh istrinya. Sayangnya Rosie yang ia kenal lemah sekarang udah nggak ada lagi. Rosie berubah sejak membeli sebuah lukisan di tukang loak.
Stephen King itu selalu punya pola yan More...

0 comments like

Oct 31, 2009

Diane rated it:

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0 comments like

Oct 28, 2009

Ro rated it:

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Aug 24, 2011

Hannah rated it:

Of course this isn't Stephen King's best work, I agree about that with almost everyone else (including himself). But I was still completely engrossed, as usual, because it has all the elements that make his work so good in general:

a) the Voice! I don't know many writers, horror or not, that can tell a story like he can, even if it's not a spectacularly great story.
b) the characters! Rosie's great as a heroine, very likeable but not bland at all. Norman is the exact opposite, gr More...

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Dec 10, 2008

Trish Lindsey rated it:

I plan to write more about the actual book a little later, but for right now I'm just excited to have time to myself to read a little King "fright" stuff. Rose Madder's main character is a woman in a dangerous domestic violence situation. On the day she "woke up" to a drop of blood (and realized that his next intent was to kill her), she flees--taking only her purse and the clothes/shoes that she had on and her husband's bank card (ooops! big mistake coming).

My in More...

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Nov 09, 2011

Rice rated it:

Unfortunately this is Stephen King's most disapointing work.

It was a strange mixture of fantasy/fiction and crime/suspense. I was bored with the story up until Rose find the painting and then I became a little bit more intrigued. I thought the way the story was writtin was interesting, and it did hold my attention for a while. It became repetitive fast.

I have read many novel's & short stories by Stephen King and have enjoyed almost all of them. This is the first that I have More...

0 comments like

Jan 27, 2011

Yorgelis added it

This book is one of the best books I’ve read and maybe that’s why I did a five page summary on it for a class assignment.Rose Madder gives a spin to conflicts most women experience in their everyday lives. I thought the emphasis on Greek mythology was simply genius since I enjoy that area of study very much.
I think the overall theme of this novel, is that women are capable of strength and courage. We are capable of placing ourselves in better situations and having more respect for ourselv More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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