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hocuscrocus's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I hadn't read this book for over a decade before picking it up again. Sadly, I was unpleasantly surprised by what I found.
Where Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs hit with beautiful, bleak poignancy, Hannibal falls entirely flat.
I know I'm being harsh. In part, it's because I genuinely love this series and find the basic plot of Hannibal to be uniquely beautiful. I still feel that way, but the plot itself is absolutely suffocated by layers of strange racism and cheap shock value. I'm no wilting flower; I enjoy gore and shocking elements. However, the details in this book shift between out-of-touch at best and needlessly disgusting at worst.
I doubt I'll ever read this again, which is a shame because there are some gems hidden among all of the awful bits.
Thomas Harris, what the fuck?
Where Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs hit with beautiful, bleak poignancy, Hannibal falls entirely flat.
I know I'm being harsh. In part, it's because I genuinely love this series and find the basic plot of Hannibal to be uniquely beautiful. I still feel that way, but the plot itself is absolutely suffocated by layers of strange racism and cheap shock value. I'm no wilting flower; I enjoy gore and shocking elements. However, the details in this book shift between out-of-touch at best and needlessly disgusting at worst.
I doubt I'll ever read this again, which is a shame because there are some gems hidden among all of the awful bits.
Thomas Harris, what the fuck?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Racial slurs, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Drug use, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
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