Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

33 reviews

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

---

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 🤦🏻‍♀️

---

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

sir_meowsalot's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

gilmargirl's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

alpinkpaca's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I genuinely forgot this book supposed to be horror and started to root for the romance part because it was cute :') Still a good book, love reading about Hannibal just being locked up and obsessing over Will.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

nuvo's review against another edition

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

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

milda_mark's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death and Cannibalism

hocuscrocus's review

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

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy

Minor: Racism and Dementia

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

phantasia's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty