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ladythana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Rape, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Body shaming
Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Excrement
tessabessa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Car accident, Death, and Murder
ran_sophia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Alcoholism
Minor: Outing and Toxic relationship
imogenreads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
acornell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Car accident, Excrement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
naomi_k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Death, Suicide, Violence, Drug use, Dysphoria, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Minor: Outing, Stalking, Transphobia, and Pedophilia
ms_gouldbourne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I would say that The Silkworm, the second in Robert Galbraith's series about a pair of detectives solving crimes together, is probably the most problematic one out of the five that have been released thus far. There was a lot of criticism surrounding Troubled Blood because of its depiction of a serial killer as a crossdresser, but I thought The Silkworm's depiction of a trans character was far, far worse. She's shown as being somewhat seedy and pathetic, and Strike is intentionally cruel towards her and uses her trans identity to torment her. It's a brief scene - and Robin does tell him off, so there is at least an attempt to critique this approach - but it leaves a sour taste in the mouth that makes it difficult for me to go on and say anything positive about the book.
Which is a shame! Rowling's writing continues to be intelligent and extremely well-crafted; it's just her attitude that leaves so much to be desired. This shows itself in other moments in the Strike novels, particularly her #notlikeothergirls way of presenting the character of Robin. Other women annoy Strike, other women demand things of him, other women are bad drivers - but not Robin! He likes her because she's so different, the one person in his life that doesn't expect him to behave nicely or function like a conventional, polite member of society. He's contemptuous of his family, outraged that his sister asks him to do things like 'attending his nephew's birthday party' or 'not insulting her children', and overall his sneering removal of himself from society on the grounds that none of them are worth his time - punctuated by his surprise that Robin is proving to be the exception to this rule - is exhausting and unpleasant.
The story, of course, is excellent. Even with all the mire described above, it's difficult not to be captivated by the murder mystery element of The Silkworm, particularly given that I first read it many years ago when it was first released and had a much less nuanced opinion of its author at the time. If I didn't dislike her current attitude towards already-marginalised communities so much, I would find it easier to recommend the Strike series as a whole. But right now, that feels impossible.
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Transphobia and Suicide
nerdglasses08's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Excrement, Infertility, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
cmreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death
Minor: Transphobia