Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

21 reviews

monicaa_d's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Viscerally disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide, Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Torture, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Violence

caesar2014's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual content, Child abuse, Body horror, and Cursing

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Homophobia

thursdd4y's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Child abuse, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Bullying, Confinement, Sexual content, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Ableism, Stalking, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Sexual violence

eldritch_ace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Ableism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Medical content, Child death, Cannibalism, and Physical abuse

heather_harrison's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.25

This book has left me with the controversial question once again - is the book actually better than the move? This time I'm not sure. 

I enjoyed how the backstory for Francis Dolarhyde was teased out, and his bizarre relationships. I would have certainly enjoyed a bit more of the infamous Hannibal Lecter. His cat and mouse relationship with "retired" FBI profiler Will Graham was exceptionally interesting. 

I kept finding myself pulled out of the story with the blantant sexism... Every woman that appears anywhere in the story described in terms of her beauty and it was honestly just annoying. It was weird that Graham would focus on woman when the families are all targeted by the Tooth Fairy, and the idea that he picked the families based on the woman did turn out to be completely unfounded. There were so many moments were our protagonist, our seeming knight in shining armor, just did not pass the vibe check. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Misogyny, Torture, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Body horror, and Death of parent

sir_meowsalot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Bullying, Stalking, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Blood, Animal death, Kidnapping, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

alpinkpaca's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I genuinely forgot this book supposed to be horror and started to root for the romance part because it was cute :') Still a good book, love reading about Hannibal just being locked up and obsessing over Will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Stalking, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

atranscryptid's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Sexual violence, Ableism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Physical abuse

nuvo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

It's a bit slow for me, also at times I didn't care very much about some of the backstory. It's pretty gory at times, which isn't my favorite thing.

Also the storyline of the Dragon guy suddenly not wanting to kill anymore because of some random woman was a bit rushed imo. Also would have preferred if Dragon had just died in the fire, the last few chapters just felt awkward and unnecessary. That would have at least rounded him trying to stop for his almost-girlfriend up a lot better, now it just feels even more random.

I did enjoy (?) reading this, but I'm 98% sure I'm not rereading that ever again. But I will continue the series just because i want some more Hannibal the Cannibal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This will always be one of my favorite books and I will always give it full stars whenever the opportunity arises. That being said, I'd only recommend it to others with some caveats.
First, there are some parts of this book that are truly disgusting. Read with caution and mind the content warnings.
Second, if your main exposure to this series is the NBC Hannibal adaptation, just know this is a very different style of storytelling. I've loved every bit of media related to this series from childhood (I may never understand why my dad let me watch Silence of the Lambs at 8) and I consider NBC's Hannibal to be a masterpiece. That said, the books are much more linear. Maybe a little dry at times. I personally enjoy Thomas Harris' writing style, but as always, your mileage may vary.

I could go on forever and ever about how much I love this book and the rest of the series but I'll spare the essay here. It's a great story to be enjoyed safely and with an open mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy

Minor: Dementia and Racism