Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

14 reviews

h3ykatrina's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Car accident, and Alcoholism

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Readable, but it was all a bit ick. The Australian characters were farcical and all of the lengthy exposition on Australian politics and history felt very forced and preachy. I did not like the ending or the ‘big reveal’. There are also a few scenes where someone kicks a dog and it’s treated like just a funny act(?!) but honestly that made me more uncomfortable than the gruesome murder scenes. And although I’m sure the book is actually quite progressive considering it was published in 1997, there are a lot of ways in which it hasn’t aged well. Lots of casual fatphobia, for instance. There is also a lot of homophobia and racism although I’m sure it’s all largely representative of this time in history. And the use of some offensive terms that are considerably outdated. 
I’ve really enjoyed Nesbo’s writing in the past. I’m open to trying another Harry Hole in time, but this one was *not it*. Give it a miss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Rape, Police brutality, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Addiction, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, and Colonisation

slimepuppy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Despite the blatant homophobia, transmisogyny and fatphobia, this book could have been way more fun - except when it finally begins to pick up the pace, the story grinds to a halt as the main character spirals, taking all the moderate fun time the reader was having with him down the drain.

Not terrible, but it took too long to get actually intersting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Death of parent, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Racial slurs and Injury/Injury detail

capra's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Xenophobia

ekmook's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

I don’t even know where to begin with how deeply offensive and problematic this entire book was…even for 1997.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Xenophobia

inkell's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Genocide, Fatphobia, and Suicide

Minor: Biphobia

emmajh91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

nieva098's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death, Genocide, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Grief, Colonisation, and Drug use

blackmetalblackheart's review against another edition

slow-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

1.0

I was extremely disappointed in this book. It has been on my to-read pile for awhile, and I finally got around to it because of a buddy read. The Bat suffers a bit from translation. It has that wooden feeling to it when things feel like a direct translation instead of something that becomes fluid and living in both languages. Or the original writing could just be wooden too. I do not really know. But that is the least of the issues when it comes to this novel. I cannot get past the fetishism of indigenous culture, the racism, the misogyny, the women experiencing tragedy mostly as a way to further the male lead, the inklings of homophobia peaking throughout the pages, the treatment and portrayal of sex workers and their industry, the macho maleness that is celebrated, the police's disregard for anything but solving the case, the unbelievable actions that several characters take, and the overall logic of the whole fucking thing. I know this was written in 1997, but I do not have time for this bullshit. Ugh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Rape, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Suicide, and Kidnapping

Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia

ran_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Surprising to me was who the perpetrator was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Alcoholism

Moderate: Racism and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Colonisation