Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

16 reviews

madisonbell_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Torture

hkburke2's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed the writing and the pacing was... Motivating, I guess. It kept me engaged. Several things did not age well here, though.

Gender essentialism with the uterus, Rizzoli's whole character is developed around her looks without a lot of depth/appreciation for the systems around her (although there's some acknowledgment of the pressures on her as a woman in the department, it feels really surface level), and the flaw in her character being she just wants to kill suspects - definitely not a good look and something she'd struggle to come back from, for me.

Also weird there's no Isles? I guess this is just further confirming for me that when it comes to books I like cozy detective stories/mysteries, not "modern day" police procedurals. But if that's your thing, the writing here at least could sell you on this. I can see why they wanted it for TV. (I listened to the version narrated by Laurel Lefkow). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Medical trauma, Blood, Stalking, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Police brutality, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Ableism, Suicide, and Racism

marleens's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Knowing this book is ‘Rizzoli&Isles #1’ I went in with very different expectations, but this is not a book about likeable strong women figuring out the murder. Isles is nowhere to be seen yet and Rizzoli is a (to me) rather unlikeable side character. It’s also a pretty dated read by now. Aside from the dated technology there is a lot of misogyny and sexism in the story, and I would hope that that would no longer be written like this today… Aside from all this I did mostly have a good time reading it. The pace is fast, the stakes are high, and I enjoyed the fact that we got the killer’s inner monologue as a POV as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Blood, Sexism, Rape, and Medical content

dhutton1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

holy crap. I checked out this book from my library after the StoryGraph recommended it and I’m so glad they did. I typically have a difficult time reading books about serial rapists &killer combos, but Gerritsen does such a good job of balancing scary, suspenseful moments with a budding romance and potential love triangle between

Rizzolli, Moore, and Catherine

. The book kept me on the edge of my seat. I would not recommend this book if you do not want to read stories about law enforcement. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Gore, Misogyny, and Stalking

madisonfrank's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

anigoose's review against another edition

funny fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

0/10 no bears involved, disappointing.

I truly don't like to give books low ratings and this doesn't get a one star because I still enjoyed the process of reading it...just, you know, not for the reasons I think any author wants. I don't think I like crime procedurals, and this was written at the height of CSI's popularity, and it read like CSI fanfic. Which might be PRECISELY what you are looking for. I can see this being the sort of book someone finds comforting and thrilling and cheesy all at the same time - I just don't think it's quite mine. 


I do love reading crime based books set in Boston, though. My husband and I like to guess how many pages it'll be before the new BPD building in Roxbury is described.  Was especially charmed by frequent references to "the Back Bay".  Never have I read of so many people who just...don't use the T. Ever. Lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, and Torture