Scan barcode
sophiejts's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gore and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
jocockwell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder
nepentheiii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Violence, Gore, and Rape
kstericker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Gore, and Grief
vickyreptile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
El trabajo de Graeme Macrae es preciso: nos hace querer a Roddy, su inocencia, su precariedad y desamparo, para después revelarlo como un potencial monstruo. El juicio, el de la novela, y el propio, es difícil. ¿Podemos condenarlo después de saber SU (y subrayo el SU) historia?
Magistral, entretenido y, además, enmarcado en mis preciosas Tierras Altas de Escocia. Qué más se puede pedir?
Graphic: Murder and Violence
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Told in multiple parts - through witness reports, trial notes, a psychiatrist report, and a written account from the accused - His Bloody Project does not hold back on the spoilers. Both in the blurb and in the first page, you know exactly who did it, even if you don't know quite what he did, or why. The what is made clearer throughout the book; the why is left for you to decide. That being said, it's not akin to the current trend of books that encourage the reader to play detective. More, it's a rumination on truth and evidence, on what we do when there are narratives that cannot fit into the same puzzle.
I read this shortly before I read American Psycho, and I think that provided a really interesting (if traumatising!) experience; both are very visceral accounts* that play with perceptions of truth and reality, and I think I gained a lot to both by reading them side-by-side. (*That is by no means to say that His Bloody Project even NEARLY reaches the levels of intensity that American Psycho does!).
Graphic: Murder and Rape
writingcaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
(Totally my bad if I had paid more attention to reviews and blurbs I’d have known it before. Now I’ve to find me another non-fic to read this month.)
And, how the hell am I going to rate this?
It was interesting for sure. Gruesome and historically sound (for a know nothing me), but the characterisation, the setting, the familial and societal relationships does resonate with what I’ve come to assume and identify of the times in isolated, poor communities ruled by Lairds (Lords) and their constables in Scotland. Also, my mixed feelings towards the killer and his actions, wether insane or not, from my part were real too.
Ah, crap. I guess I liked it, if it made me feel so much, and honestly the beginning was kind of hard to get into, but afterwards I was quite eager to see where it would lead, and there was a lot of hope for a certain outcome by the end of it.
The court part in what it diverges from the biography was relevant but I did suspect it.
There’s so much at play here, age, poverty, ambitions or lack of, insanity, lust, vengeance, intellect, premeditation, we know nothing and have to infer everything with the same degree of distance and the same information as if we were a juror. It’s a hard job and I wouldn’t want it. Actually we do have more information as we have the biography, which does make you get more familiar with the young killer.
Definitely a cool play on the narrative part. It fooled me.
Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence
Minor: Incest, Rape, and Suicide
shinysarah28's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Rape and Suicide
bootsmom3's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Dementia, and Rape
a1exander's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, Violence, Murder, and Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Alcohol, Stalking, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Classism, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, and Incest