Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Silence of the Lambs

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

24 reviews

jfield351's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

Good. Lil nerve wracking

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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Wow wow wow. I'd already watched the film a little while before reading it but that absolutely did not take away from my experience. The fact that I already knew the plot, the characters and what was happening and yet still managed to love the reading experience this much really says something.

Of course Hannibal Lecture is an iconic character, perfectly crafted and endlessly intriguing. But Clarice Starling: wow. Clarice was just such a wonderful perspective to follow: a complex real character with amazing strength and intelligence while remaining humble and flawed. I loved her gentleness but also her passion and anger. Through her character it explores the frustrations of being a young woman in a heavily male dominated field as well as the unique insight it brings her. Clarice is absolutely a new favourite character of mine, and a character you could easily believe was written by a woman.

The dynamic between Starling and Lecter was brilliantly fascinating. So many 'psychology thrillers' butcher the psychology aspect with surface level pop psychology or just misinformation, but in this book the psychological aspects were just brilliant done and admirably researched.

I was, early on, concerned that the characterisation of Buffalo Bill would come across as transphobic, but this concept was actually really well addressed and explicitly discussed as Bill not belonging to the legitimate trans community. I was pleasantly surprised considering this was written in the late 1980s. That said, I am cis so I can't really speak on the representation and would be interested on hearing the opinion of trans individuals.

Overall just really impressed, I love the characters, the plot, the mood and can't wait to eventually reread it.

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bunnypez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A great book! I felt it gave way more depth to all the characters than the film did- Clarice in particular.

Clarice is so much more three-dimensional, making for a much more interesting read than I imagined. Furthermore I loved her friendship with Ardelia, and I would love a tv show about this book to really pace it properly, and to include all the small details the movie missed. But I love both, and both have their flaws and strengths.

As a closing note, I also don’t find it particularly transphobic. It’s not ideal language, no, but I think to simply call it “transphobic” is reductive and flat. But that’s just my opinion, and people are more than welcome to disagree.

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