Reviews

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

sharb's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

jobinsonlis's review against another edition

3.0

I vaguely remembered liking this one more the first time I read it but I think I just liked the Brett Ratner movie a lot. Ralph Fiennes makes the Tooth Fairy killer so compelling in the movie but here he's just kinda generic--abandoned by people who should have loved him, check, abused by an older female relative, check, abnormal in a way that immediately makes him an outcast in his community, check, tortures animals to feel like he has control, check, sexually confused and frustrated, check, check, check. It's all pretty standard stuff for the genre. Even Will Graham feels pretty generic here without Edward Norton giving him all that tormented depth. Hannibal still feels unique and presumably that's why Thomas Harris decided to make him the through line of the series rather than Graham, which was smart. I'm curious if I'll still like the next book because I remember really liking it the last time I read it.

hannaschroy's review against another edition

Too heteronormative in its handling of Molly Foster Graham, too reminiscent of true crime media in a non enjoyable way for me

phonicallychallenged's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

austinrawr's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

wrumze's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

achillesheeled's review against another edition

2.0

Fear comes with imagination, it’s a penalty, it’s the price of imagination.

just didnt really find it interesting tbh. i liked the tv show a lot better. its pretty mediocre

selenas_white_friend's review against another edition

my mom stole this to stage the house

gearyofbooks's review against another edition

3.0

Good book, well written but so close to the Red Dragon movie that having seen the movie first this holds no suspense for me. Thus the three stars.

bananaship's review against another edition

4.0

I wouldn’t have read this in all honesty had it not been popular fiction. I really loved the Hannibal Series and I thought I would have gotten more from this book, but what I got was just the idea of Hannibal Lecter, and clearly the series did a good job. Props to Thomas Harris for giving birth to this iconic character. Hannibal was not just a villain here, he is someone you would like, would be friends and would want to acquaint with.

The writing might be a little slow and dense but you could see beyond the small nitpick that this is overall a good book.