Reviews - Red Dragon | The StoryGraph

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3.51k reviews for:

Red Dragon

Thomas Harris

3.94 AVERAGE

jaysonc's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

vivi_tempor's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A very specific type of prose
Carefully vague

slyther_ale's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

avac_min's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 16%

I just didn't care about Lecter or Graham or any sort of graphic and detailed murder that was taking place.

An example of where I enjoyed the tv show more, and had hoped the book would be just as enjoyable, but for me it was not.

kthibeault's review against another edition

4.25

I read it when it first came out, am rewatching Hannibal (tv series) and it inspired me to go back and reread this. I didn’t really like the ending, but other than that it was enjoyable.

b0nehead's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Absolutely fantastic read!!!

nikereadsbooks's review against another edition

This book was very polarizing for me.

I picked it up because of the show - what a person wouldn't do for more Will Graham, am I right? And Will Graham was honestly one of the few nice things about it. I liked his attitude, the way he was clearly undiagnosed with so many things and his way around the investigation. It was interesting to see him outside of the audiovisual media, to see the original man. Will's relationship with Molly and with his work -

two things that were clearly clashing more and more as the investigation progressed

- was something I really enjoyed. It felt realistic, with Will scarred by the previous cases, by his time with Hannibal, the way those things made him who he was in this story. It shaped him into a really intriguing character that was pretty nice to read about.

Speaking of the investigation, it was keeping me on my toes.

The way the FBI couldn't get any leads, all the while Dolarhyde was plotting around, was something that made the story more tense. Especially as the book went on and there was no progress in the investigation.

I really liked that, as it made the stakes so much higher. It was also nice to see all the parts of the investigation - Katz, Zeller and Price, and their work in the labs. These behind-the-scenes kind of things are something that deepened the story.

The thing about this book - it's just ignorant on so many topics. It is full of ableism. And not just with Dolarhyde and

the way his disability was the catalyst to his murderous streak and the whole Dragon thing.

It also slips in descriptions of other characters that are mentioned in the story. It makes the book feel dated and simply not as good. The racism - how Black and other characters of colour are used in the story... I feel like the only moment that was somehow consious of the situation was

when Will Graham was investigating and for a moment watched a basketball game - the difference between the two neighborhoods,

but that was just a few pages among the four hunderd others. The same thing goes to the fatphobia and just the way unatractive characters are decribed not only in the physical way, but also how it just bleeds into the description of their personality and skills. It really is something that just yanks you out of the story and I just had to sometimes look up and remind myself that this book is more than 40 years old and fucking ignorant. Like I get that a part of it is happening in the 30s and 40s, but it was just bleak, man.

I am unable to assign a star rating to this book, to be completely honest, so I'm just going to leave it like this.