Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

7 reviews

heather_harrison's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

littleredwinter's review against another edition

Very disappointed. I thought I’d like the book because I liked the movie version of The Silence of the Lambs, but this book had inconsistent pacing, extraneous details galore, and very little characterization of its most interesting characters. The dated writing style that included way too much detail about unnecessary sexual stuff and actual slurs made my skin crawl more than the gore, which I expected more of than I actually got. The backstory felt unnecessary to understand the killer. And I felt I didn’t get Will Graham as a character at all. The only redeeming quality was Hannibal Lecter himself. He had the best characterization of anyone but was barely in the book. DNF at 86%. I couldn’t get all the way through it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Stalking

Minor: Cannibalism and Fire/Fire injury

rendezvous's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

mysimas's review against another edition

dark sad 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

2.0

This book tries really hard to humanize its serial killer. And it works.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death

foreverinastory's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was boring. I expected Dr Lecter to be more involved in this than he was. I've heard he is more in the later books, but I don't really have any interest in reading more of these? I normally like murder mysteries so I don't exactly know why this one bored me so much. Maybe it was Will and how cishetero he is. Plus this book is old so the misogyny and gender roles prevail. Blegh. 

Would recommend to murder mystery fans who don't have a problem with cannibalism and rape-murder. Idk this was just not for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

eatsnacks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

caidyn's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This reread is brought in part by the TV show Hannibal finally getting to Dolarhyde's case in the series.

In this case, the show is way better than the book, in so many ways that I really don't feel like nitpicking even though I could spend the whole review doing just that. I'll keep myself from it, really.

The most I will say is that the writing in this book is... sub par. I'll put it nicely instead of being a bit rude. We all know how Hannibal hates rude people. The only reason this book got three stars, I really wanted to give it two, is because I love this story. Out of all of the books Harris wrote on Hannibal Lecter, this one's my favorite because I simply love Will. Other than that, the writing is something I did back in fifth grade when I had to take a creative writing class as part of the curriculum.

Plus, there is no symbolism in this book.

Hannibal has left me with high standards for Thomas Harris and he is just not capable of meeting them.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Racism