Reviews with content warning for Gore - Jaws

Next month, February, celebrates the 50th ANNIVERSARY of the book release! *mind blowing*

I'd been wanting to read the book for some time, and I was trying to hold out until the anniversary month, but I had just finished a book and... Let's just say, OMG! It's soooo much better than the movie! And I'm soooo disappointed by what was not incorporated into the movie, too!

But if they ever remake JAWS, which they should never, never, never do... They seriously need to include some of the left-out plot details!

I will say, that I read White Shark last year and thought, "ok, this is good, but it's not amazing..." and was questioning if I should read JAWS. Well, if you've read any of Benchley's other books and you're not sure about JAWS, you should definitely read it!

Content Warnings

my_forest_library's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

celisabeth's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This book held some really problematic pieces for me - such as racism, uncomfortable infidelity, sexism in the fact that Ellen (Brody's wife) serves almost no purpose in the story whatsoever except as a product of anger and other issues, and that's not to mention the apparent

rape fantasy

"all women have."

We can also talk about the endless fact that this novel sparked so many fears of sharks, who mostly don't attack people (seriously, it's supposedly more likely to get struck by lightning than to get attacked by a shark) and aren't truly attracted to women's menstrual cycles. (I will note Benchley wrote an introduction to the edition I read retracting a lot of those issues and problems faced in the book.)

But even through the problems, the book was an easy read with strong writing and an engaging storyline. The characters could have been developed more and I wished for more tense reactions when the shark did appear. Nonetheless, this book is finely written, but I would say (in this case), you could really just watch the movie and forego the book.

Content Warnings

aristata9000's review against another edition

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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

1.0

I hesitate to call this book a thriller. I was disappointed by the characters and plot line. The focus for the first part of the book seemed to be on Brody’s wife’s unhappiness with her life rather than the shark that was killing people in town. The ending was disappointing to say the least and had no punch. Even the hunt and subsequent fight with the shark did not have high enough stakes, which could have been fixed with better writing. Just watch the movie.

Content Warnings

amandafooteauthor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

Content Warnings

cabbagecakes's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.75

Content Warnings

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