A review by ashaye
Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane

challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Shutter Island is probably one of my favorite films I’ve ever seen. I love thrillers and movies that mess with your head. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is also a book, and I thought “how exciting I get to have more internal dialogue for Teddy.” This might be one of a handful of books where I argue, that the movie is better. Not just for the fact that DiCaprio’s character manifestation of Teddy is phenomenal, but also that the movie chose to leave out the consistent unnecessary racial slurs and descriptions. This is not an old book. This is not in an era where this was considered “the norm” (regardless if it was or not, it shouldn’t contain them). Overall I found the book near impossible to get through and had to actually rewatch the movie to help me get through it. 
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