Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Sangue inquieto

Update: Reread this two years after the first time; still agree with my original review.
~~~~~~~
I couldn’t figure out why it was taking me so long to make any progress in the electronic version and then I realized the paper version is 900+ pages long. I loved every page. I think Rowling is a great writer, creating an intriguing plot and complex characters, doing a surprising amount of research on detailed locations and with complicated astrology / Zodiac info. Her pacing is great - she always adds a bit of humor when the tension is getting to be close to unbearable.

I fear I’m not articulating just how much I loved this book. I have been a big fan of the Cormoran Strike series since I read the first one.

Content Warnings

sauvageloup's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Complicated feelings over this one

Pros:
- Rowling is an exceptional writer; the complicated but satisfying plot, the mixture of straightforward tone interspersed with moments of lyrical descriptions and reflection, the characterisation and development, the slowly eked out relationship development, the depth of every single side character, how each character's dialogue is made distinct and accents rendered realistically, the research that's clearly gone into it... just so much to admire in the actual writing and her skill.
- I like Robin and Strike and many of the other side characters. They feel real and Rowling puts across their emotions very well. There's a very real feeling of being as harried and pressured as Strike clearly is with everything piling up and then the release at the end.
- the plot was complex but wrapped up very neatly at the end. It was complicated by various characters' mixed motives but it didn't feel forced.

Cons:
- My only complaint about the writing was that it was *massively* confusing at the beginning. SO. MANY. NAMES. Got super confused. Also later on completely forgot who

Joanna Hammond

, which might be due to it being 3am right now, but still. Took the punch out of the revelation at the end because I couldn't remember who the hell they were talking about.
- Rowling's views... Rowling as a person... that was just in my head the whole time I was reading.
- her views then come through in this book, more than the others I think. This is the first book to come out post Rowling revealing herself as a massive transphobe and I think there's a lot of elements of that that come through in this.
-

There's the killer, Creed, dressing up in women's clothes to lull his victims into a sense of security, which is the most transphobic bit. Then there's a good bit of fatphobia in there with obvious scorn and disgust angled towards fat people, including Creed being obese. A point I hated a lot was when it's made fun of that Irene has IBS. The condition is given to an already dislikeable character and it's encouraging the reader to laugh at her during that whole episode, which I thought was really cruel. No-one, however dislikeable, should be subject to mockery because of a chronic and painful medical condition. There were other bits too and I can't speak for disabled people but I wasn't sure how some of the portrayals of disabled people would come off to them. Then there's points where I felt that Rowling was hammering home other points, about women's safety, about Robin's rape, about domestic abuse, manipulative men, feminism, and about people who arguing for changing language rather than actually making a difference (the students Strike has a rant at in Max's flat over a so called 'slutwalk'). None of that was wrong, but I felt it linked back to Rowling's perception of herself within the world.

Anyway, the book was written excellently, but Rowling is a piece of shit. Unfortunately, I am also very jealous of her writing abilities and wish they'd been given to someone more worthy.

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cmreadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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samanthaxe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I picked up this book because JK Rowling is a master plotter, and I continue to love the dynamic between Strike and Robin. As with past books, the interaction between the two of them was the best part. The story is a little convoluted--the agency is now very busy, with multiple cases going on at once, and it's hard to follow all of those details as well as the main mystery of Margot Bamborough. I enjoyed the astrology subplot, but was ultimately too confused by it to see how it impacted the ending or solving of the case.

I was also wondering whether Rowling would use this opportunity to make a statement about trans people, and she does.

One of the main suspects, a man, dresses as a woman in order to gain the trust of his female victims and enter their spaces.

While Rowling does not use the word trans or identify this character as trans, she's obviously trying to spin a story where the fears she spouts on Twitter are manifest, however unrealistic or unfounded. There are also several conversations between characters where Robin or Strike think about the naïveté of young people and their desire to control the narrative and language around their experience, and how ultimately that doesn't change anything.

So, trigger warnings for what you'd expect in a gritty thriller, with an emphasis on almost unrelenting violence against women, and I'd also add a trigger warning for Rowling's seemingly benign use of things like cross-dressing to make an insidious and harmful point about gender identity.

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jgrace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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