Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

31 reviews

karlin0336's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I've got mixed feelings about this book.

The whole crime solving aspect of the book was REALLY interesting and kept me invested in the story the whole time.  As someone who loves The Naturals (which is a YA series where a group of teens are trying to help the FBI solve cold cases), that was perfect (and it also put me in a mood for a Naturals reread).  The characters were also pretty well-developed in my opinion.


 At the same time, though, there were many disgusting/disturbing parts of the book that I didn't like.  There was quite a bit of graphic violence in particular.  (See the content warnings section for a more comprehensive list.)

One other thing: I thought Dr. Lecter would play a more prominent role in the story, but he only made an appearance a handful of times (he was giving major evil mastermind vibes, so I was rather disappointed he didn't play a more prominent role).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, and Cannibalism

The chapters/sections that followed the killer were particularly disturbing. He really had problems.

magimiel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kilianisreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

borrelvissie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. What a great book, delving into the darkest places of the human psychology.
It took me quite a while to read this— it's heavy, in a way, you can tell that Harris thought everything through carefully. Knowing who the killer was since (nearly) the beginning made it better, seeing things from his twisted mind.. Then suddenly, you get thrown years into the past,

seeing Dolarhyde's childhood.

It left me conflicted.

The entire book I hated Dolarhyde, was disgusted by him, then I find out there's more to him than first meets the eye. It's sad, really, how trapped Dolarhyde was in the end. Not wanting to hurt Reba, but being forced to anyway by the Dragon. He must have felt powerless.

I did not see that last plottwist coming, at all.

I thought Graham was hallucinating at first, perhaps as a reaction to trauma. Then I realised, he's not hallucinating, Dolarhyde's really there, and he's alive.

Very pleasantly surprised by this book. Hats off to you, Mr Harris!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

greenan26's review against another edition

challenging dark lighthearted tense slow-paced

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use

monicaa_d's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Viscerally disturbing.

Enjoyability  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Impact ⭐⭐⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

caesar2014's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Dementia, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

juleseliasw's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Pretty outdated at times, but beautifully written descriptive details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

eldritch_ace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, and Suicide attempt