Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Casino Royale (James Bond #1)

It’s divided into three distinct parts; a casino section which I thought was a lot of fun, a torture section which was well written but brutal, and a maudlin doomed romance section which dragged horribly and didn’t endear me to either of the main characters.

I like Flemings writing style; snappy and vivid (eg. "the entire plate-glass window shivered into confetti"), but the spy craft is clunky, Bond wins by being lucky rather than smart, and the mysogny and xenophobia are off the scale.

It was interesting to see how the huge cultural phenomenon started though.

Content Warnings

fjordpingvin's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-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

2.0

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lct's review against another edition

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crochetcat22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense 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

3.0

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drysers's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

3.0

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There are moments of terrible misogyny but it’s interesting to view these as examples of the deep flaws and insecurities of our main protagonist (and possibly the author).
It’s also interesting to observe how faithful the 2006 film version is and how much the dark elements that permeate the book helped to shape Daniel Craig’s Bond era.

Content Warnings

simply_fran's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious 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

1.5

Includes the phrase "the sweet tang of r*pe"...

Content Warnings

ru_th's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

[…] The hero kills two villains, but when the hero Le Chiffre starts to kill the villain Bond and the villain Bond knows he isn’t a villain at all, you see the other side of the medal. The villains and heroes get all mixed up. Of course, […] patriotism comes along and makes it seem fairly all right, but this country-right-or-wrong business is getting a little out-of-date. Today we are fighting Communism. Okay. If I’d been alive fifty years ago, the brand of Conservatism we have today would have been damn near called Communism and we should have been told to go and fight that. History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.

Content Warnings

tucked_snuggly's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

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