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sp00kyx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I watched the movie a few months ago and really liked it, but felt dissatisfied by the message. I felt as though the director didn’t really know himself what he wanted to convey, and what they wanted the message to be. It left me confused and frustrated. But the book answered all of those questions and I loved the way Bernard Schlink showed the thoughts and personalities of the two main characters. Hanna was actually a person, with a story and a real personality (positive and negative) and not just this evil person that needs to be condemned like in the movie. The message was also so much clearer in the book and it really made me think about the way we (as a country) handled and handle this topic. The writing was great, straight to the point but still immersive and the ending deeply upset me.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit and Physical abuse
sal_the_cat's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Grief, Suicide, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Antisemitism
norcana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Genocide
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, War, Genocide, Suicide, Pedophilia, Death, Vomit, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Fire/Fire injury
radfordmanor's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Murder, Genocide, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
samanthaleereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Suicide, Genocide, and Antisemitism
Moderate: War
sympetal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
He became the reader, it defined him to the point where there was no space for anyone or anything else in his life. Clearly the author knows how to tell, and not show, since not much was explicitly said, but I still got that sense of emptiness and barrenness within the soul of someone who had been taken advantage of, yet couldn't recognise it as such because they were robbed of the tools needed for that recognition in the first place.
We only get the sense that something is wrong through the reactions of others, though we know it must be. And though there's no character development, everything is in stasis, it's crystallized into a state of absolutely no movement, we still get a clear picture of the character and who he is, all that he lacks, and his desire to hold onto the only thing that gave him meaning. Without accepting that he can define himself by something else.
There is a question asked by another character at the end of the book. They ask him whether he knows if what was done to him was done with awareness, and he cannot answer. He doesn't know if the one thing he devoted his entire emotional life to was just a side-story in another person's life. And we don't know either.
I liked that complexity, and the resigned way it ends. There's no other way for it to be - our main character doesn't know how to feel anything else.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Suicide
The main topic of this book is the relationship between a fifteen year old boy and a thirty-something year old woman. It is handled without romanticism, and it is very clear how negatively it affects the life of the main character, but it is written in detail nonetheless, which might disturb some readers.philippmk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Antisemitism, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
max_power's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Deportation, Antisemitism, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide and War
sweetsuz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Pedophilia and Suicide