Reviews with content warning for Blood - Червоний дракон

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Червоний дракон by Thomas Harris

33 reviews

hookerkitty's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

4.0

(Finally adding the review way later, so I’m going off some old notes and what I vaguely remember lol)

There were some parts I found a tad boring, but that was prob more my mental space than the book itself. It was definitely fun reading the parts that got weaved into The Silence of the Lambs movie, even if it’s from a different book in the series. Very excited to read the next one.

Oh one of my biggest disappointments (or the biggest) was when Graham said “I could care less.” Guy is supposed to be hella intelligent and pulls that crap.

Good god I both can and cannot believe how many people are whining in the reviews saying they watched the Hannibal series and are upset he’s not in this book much. I can’t believe they had enough reading comprehension to make it through the entire book when they couldn’t make it through/comprehend the title (or synopsis) of the book. And totally missed that there is a book literally titled “Hannibal,” but they haven’t gotten there yet 🤦🏻‍♀️

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ollie_again's review against another edition

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3.75

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heather_harrison's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book has left me with the controversial question once again - is the book actually better than the move? This time I'm not sure.

I enjoyed how the backstory for Francis Dolarhyde was teased out, and his bizarre relationships. I would have certainly enjoyed a bit more of the infamous Hannibal Lecter. His cat and mouse relationship with "retired" FBI profiler Will Graham was exceptionally interesting.

I kept finding myself pulled out of the story with the blantant sexism... Every woman that appears anywhere in the story described in terms of her beauty and it was honestly just annoying. It was weird that Graham would focus on woman when the families are all targeted by the Tooth Fairy, and the idea that he picked the families based on the woman did turn out to be completely unfounded. There were so many moments were our protagonist, our seeming knight in shining armor, just did not pass the vibe check.

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sir_meowsalot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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gilmargirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

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nuvo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

It's a bit slow for me, also at times I didn't care very much about some of the backstory. It's pretty gory at times, which isn't my favorite thing.

Also the storyline of the Dragon guy suddenly not wanting to kill anymore because of some random woman was a bit rushed imo. Also would have preferred if Dragon had just died in the fire, the last few chapters just felt awkward and unnecessary. That would have at least rounded him trying to stop for his almost-girlfriend up a lot better, now it just feels even more random.

I did enjoy (?) reading this, but I'm 98% sure I'm not rereading that ever again. But I will continue the series just because i want some more Hannibal the Cannibal.

Content Warnings

thetallestbird's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This will always be one of my favorite books and I will always give it full stars whenever the opportunity arises. That being said, I'd only recommend it to others with some caveats.
First, there are some parts of this book that are truly disgusting. Read with caution and mind the content warnings.
Second, if your main exposure to this series is the NBC Hannibal adaptation, just know this is a very different style of storytelling. I've loved every bit of media related to this series from childhood (I may never understand why my dad let me watch Silence of the Lambs at 8) and I consider NBC's Hannibal to be a masterpiece. That said, the books are much more linear. Maybe a little dry at times. I personally enjoy Thomas Harris' writing style, but as always, your mileage may vary.

I could go on forever and ever about how much I love this book and the rest of the series but I'll spare the essay here. It's a great story to be enjoyed safely and with an open mind.

Content Warnings