Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

7 reviews

xkwright's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

I was familiar with the premise and expected a jaunty crime caper, but I ought to have known better coming from Highsmith. I would teach this in a literature class and have fun doing it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

stateofhailey's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Gun violence, Stalking, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

celinomat's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gun violence, Violence, and Death

Minor: Vomit

elizmoe's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

men will literally kill a stranger’s wife and then stalk the stranger until he has no choice but to commit murder too and then be super fucking weird about it until they’re both either dead or arrested, instead of going to therapy

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i mostly read this as a precursor to Carol/The Price of Salt in an attempt to understand Highsmith as a writer before I (finally) read the seminal twentieth century lesbian novel.

This book feels like something i would have read in AP Lit and then argued about a lot with my teacher. 

I also learned that maybe I like the idea of noir more than I like it in practice, and that perhaps this novel really isn’t for me.

Last but certainly not least, Bruno being clearly gay in the most unflattering and downright disturbing way possible really put me off this book. 

much more to unpack in this novel, but i don’t think i want to!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

Minor: Racism, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.0

This should’ve just been a short story, but Sigmund Freud, you would’ve loved this shit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Fatphobia

namizaela's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I don't think mysteries are for me. First of all, it was hard to believe that Bruno actually convinced Guy to

murder his father, even though Bruno carried out his part of the deal.

Secondly, I had a hard time liking or even tolerating any of the characters in the novel. I think that was the point, but I personally like to read books that feature characters I can root for, and I was basically rooting against everyone. This is an interesting novel but definitely not my taste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, and Miscarriage

sarah984's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

There were some interesting ideas here, with the way that the two men kind of orbited around each other, and the inevitability of their downfall. The premise and idea of the murders interested me as well, but both characters were so annoying and made such stupid post-murder decisions that it was hard to sustain interest for the length of the book. This might have fared better as a short story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage and Racism