Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

6 reviews

andra_k's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault

obliquity's review

challenging dark sad 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

2.0

This one was a bit of a slog to get through. I've read a few slightly shorter and faster paced books recently, so had others not said the same thing in their reviews, I might have thought that this had amplified the effect. I agree that everything seems to happen right at the beginning or right at the end, with a lot of repetitive rambling in between. It was repetitive in action, in the same bad decisions being made, but also in specific thought. Cassie likes to recap everything that's happened so far in her head to pad out paragraphs. She likes it a lot. To the point that I wonder if the author actually expected people to put it down for extended periods of time.

This is, of course, wild speculation, but it almost feels like a deadline loomed with an expected wordcount, and the author either lost interest partway through or just ran out of time to meet it in any other way. It's something I've seen before, but mostly in less experienced writers - I've even done it myself, back closer to when I started out, and it surprises me that somebody who has published this much has done so at this point in their career. Maybe it's just a stylistic choice, but it's not one that I enjoy.

As much as the middle dragged - and it really, really did - the ending felt very rushed. Shorter chapters, faster pace. Okay, that makes sense. But I would have liked a little more detail in the rounding up of things. The epilogue was pretty short and set two years later, and I feel like some of the stuff that might have been interesting to see immediately after the final chapter would have been more interesting to read that most of the rest of the book. I like characters learning lessons, working their way through things, but in all of these struggles, she didn't seem to actually learn anything on-page at all.

Elena was more interesting to read, and I think she and Ani were about the only characters I actually liked.

I was pretty annoyed at Elena being killed off, actually, and her killer not only instantly turning without a thought, but Cassie's acceptance of and trust in him was also irritating. Why give us a twist character, only to add a "just kidding! He's actually a good guy!" a couple of pages later? It felt like a copout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicide, Rape, and Animal death

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Addiction, Blood, Alcoholism, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Outing, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Cursing, Death of parent, Vomit, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Gun violence, Animal death, Abandonment, Torture, and Suicide

siobhanisreading's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

sarz's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Car accident, Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

I read this a couple of months after watching the TV series. There are a number of things that I felt each did better than the other, which really frustrates me. One through-line is how unbelievably dumb the main character acts. I found this to be a major obstacle - I couldn't "buy in" to the story fully because I couldn't believe that anyone would be dumb enough to make some of the choices she made.

Something I liked better in the TV series: the cast of characters were more diverse and three-dimensional. There is also a clearer focus on Cassie as the main character, which I think is more suitable. I didn't have any attachment to Elena's chapters or storyline. 

Something I liked better in the book: the plot was more straightforward and was discussed in more detail, so it was overall WAY easier to follow. Also, the book didn't get into the weird psychoanalysis weird rabbit fixation which I felt did the TV show no favours.

On the whole, kind of a "meh" book. It was just okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor warnings are "mentions of"