Reviews

I’m so glad that I never bought a copy of this book and just borrowed it from the library. I would never recommend this. If you love the Jaws movies like I do save yourself the time.

The only good parts were the few scenes with the shark. I was expecting this to be a lot like the movie but this was like 90% about infidelity. The only reason I’m not rating this lower is that I don’t hate this book, I’m just
extremely disappointed.

Content Warnings

dagreatcatsby's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I was so excited to read this, as I love the movie. But it fell so short of my expectations.

the_sunken_library's review against another edition

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2.0

The film was significantly better.

I get it's an old book but the casual racism, homophobia and sexism is jarring.

Peter Benchley has the seed of a good idea, hence such an iconic movie being spawned from it, but his writing is dull in my opinion. I didn't find it scary or tense. The attacks are fast and unimpressive. The shark simply sounds like a shark and every character in the book is awful. The descriptions of abject animal cruelty are quite frankly disgusting. I had hoped they would all get eaten and the shark would triumph.

What a boring ending as well. Beyond disappointing.

broe028's review against another edition

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4.0

Ahhhhh!! First off, Jaws is my top three favorite movie of all time, so it was a no brainer that I wanted to read this book. While the movie was incredibly accurate to this book, there were a few elements that were solely in the book and I can understand why they weren’t in the movie. An extra scene of suspense, mafia, and an affair I think all took away from the main point of a harassing shark. Even the final battle was a little different but I was very happy with this book. It was everything that I wanted it to be, and I was very happy that the movie payed with such respects. Definitely a book that I want to have in my personal collection. I have found that movie books, tend to be a hit or miss, but this hit it straight out of the park.

thefallenlegion's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-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? Yes

1.5

ferla's review against another edition

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First half very boring. Start at chapter 8 if you pick it up again.

kehtir's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

andrew_b's review against another edition

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3.0

The shark attacks are the best part of the book by far. Besides that the characters are horrible people and the side plots are another redeaming part of this novel.

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