Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Snow by John Banville

20 reviews

velozebra's review

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sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

Content warning that I didn’t have:
this book contains a horrific scene of the sexual assault of a child told from the offender’s POV about halfway through
. I wish I had known about it. It’s unnecessary for the plot development, it was obvious long before this what had happened and it did NOT need to be there. I do not read past books that contain gratuitous scenes of sexual assault when they are clearly there for prurient reasons and do not advance the story in any way. Like, is this supposed to be edgy? Because it’s most assuredly NOT. It’s exploitive. Also, I can’t stand books where you’re not sure if the MC, a detective, is meant to be an idiot? Because this one surely is. Even if he’s annoying and stuck up, I don’t think he’s meant to be stupid enough to miss obvious clues and
cross boundaries with a waif-like damsel in distress
. The tropes are strong in this novel, and not in a good way. What a waste of my time. It could have been a good book, which is why I read more than half of it. Ruined by a lack of subtlety and imagination. 

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atamano's review against another edition

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

2.75


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dorsetreader's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.5


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primaproulla's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25


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cstein's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Enjoyable read with interesting insights into Irish history/politics, but too many knowing nods to mystery genre tropes and archetypes, the motive was obvious to the reader long before the detective, and
there was a frustratingly long break between when we learned a character was dead and Strafford got it together to find the body.
 


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yenna's review against another edition

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there’s not much mystery to this mystery story 

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genevievereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

3.5


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jesse_post's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fantastic read by one of our best living prose stylists, and a nicely done mystery where all the actions actually matter to the characters and the corpse is a fully realized person. The purpose isn’t for you, the reader, to solve anything since what you need to know is mostly revealed early on (and not to the detective). The purpose is to read and enjoy a deeply introspective and atmospheric book about this set of characters in this society at that time. In other words, it’s a book, not a role playing game. Well done, Mr. Banville. 

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elsmith09's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

4.25


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elizabethpero's review against another edition

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

3.75


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