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tracey1981's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book has not aged particularly well and is full of racial slurs and sexism and a lot of random drinking. It took until the 75% mark to get to the actual trial and my patience was very thin by then. For all of these reasons and more, I might not have finished it. But my mom and I were reading it aloud together and I really enjoyed that, as usual. So I would say 2.5 stars, at best, for the book, 4 stars for the reading experience…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, and Racial slurs
annabelle42688's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Please check the trigger warnings. The language like many of the characters are racist, sexist, and ableist. Not to mention the horrific nature of the inciting event and presents of the KKK in the book are extremely hard to read/listen to at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal death
The "N" is used a hell of a lot.ashleysmith9's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Alcohol, Child abuse, Racism, Murder, Rape, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence
kaela_arcuri's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Violence, Cursing, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Rape
dirtyseagull's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I want to keep this brief unlike this novel, the story here is a heartbreaking one that is masterfully written by a legend in the genre but oh my god is it too long.
The film not only was able to succinctly get to the point of what was happening in this case, the stakes and all the different considerations that had to be made way sooner than this book did, but it ingratiates you to the characters better as well.
Jake, is not really the most likable person in this novel and isn't supposed to be. To him this is just a job to get some money coming in and get some notoriety, even if its a losing case. He knows that it was wrong what happened and he knows that he is fighting a losing battle the moment he takes it, but its never shown as well as it is in the film that its about more than that to him when reading it.
Matthew McConaughey absolutely kills this role in the movie and shows through his acting chops what makes this story so good and how well it can be told from a more distant perspective. Things are a lot clearer in the film, and it doesn't deviate much from the source material but what it does change, I promise is for the better.
I am not really that down on this book, you should still read it but if you were thinking about reading it, understand that afterwards you need to watch the movie if you have not already to get, in my mind, the superior version of this story.
The film not only was able to succinctly get to the point of what was happening in this case, the stakes and all the different considerations that had to be made way sooner than this book did, but it ingratiates you to the characters better as well.
Jake, is not really the most likable person in this novel and isn't supposed to be. To him this is just a job to get some money coming in and get some notoriety, even if its a losing case. He knows that it was wrong what happened and he knows that he is fighting a losing battle the moment he takes it, but its never shown as well as it is in the film that its about more than that to him when reading it.
Matthew McConaughey absolutely kills this role in the movie and shows through his acting chops what makes this story so good and how well it can be told from a more distant perspective. Things are a lot clearer in the film, and it doesn't deviate much from the source material but what it does change, I promise is for the better.
I am not really that down on this book, you should still read it but if you were thinking about reading it, understand that afterwards you need to watch the movie if you have not already to get, in my mind, the superior version of this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Stalking, Sexism, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Torture
mblanke's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-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
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Hate crime
pratha's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism and Murder
jonssweater's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGHOUT
My advice: just watch the film. In the live action adaptation, Jake Brigance is genuinely a likeable protagonist. Having to wade through the perspective of a self-important, hypocritical, fame-hungry misogynistic lawyer could have been an interesting critique of enforcers of the judicial system, but the framing of Brigance as an entirely unfeeling, apathetic, untouchable white saviour who does as he pleases and twists the law he supposedly upholds to make his ends is unsavoury and droll to read in my opinion (especially for a book that runs for over five hundred pages).
My advice: just watch the film. In the live action adaptation, Jake Brigance is genuinely a likeable protagonist. Having to wade through the perspective of a self-important, hypocritical, fame-hungry misogynistic lawyer could have been an interesting critique of enforcers of the judicial system, but the framing of Brigance as an entirely unfeeling, apathetic, untouchable white saviour who does as he pleases and twists the law he supposedly upholds to make his ends is unsavoury and droll to read in my opinion (especially for a book that runs for over five hundred pages).
The treatment of female characters in this book is abysmal and eye-roll-worthy; Brigance constantly berating and mocking his secretary Ethel, causing her to cry and making inappropriate comments about her chest; the same patriarchal leering he ascribes to Ellen (despite being a married man with a child) as he lusts after her and has the gall to resent her for being a self-important tease, so to speak; as well as demanding the list of jurors for the trial (a crime) and reprimanding Jean Gillespie for doing her duty as a secretary and not giving into his self-serving demands.
Here’s a fun example of Brigance’s bigotry that were be nearly comical if it weren’t treated in such a blasé fashion: “‘Because men don’t have female friends. No way. I don’t know of a single man in the entire South who is married and has a female friend. I think it goes back to the Civil War.’
‘I think t goes back to the Dark Ages. Why are Southern Women so jealous?’
‘Because that’s the way we’ve trained them. They learned from us. If my way met a male friend for lunch or dinner, I’d tear his head off and file for divorce. She learned it from me.’
‘That makes absolutely no sense.’
‘Of course it doesn’t.’
‘Your wife has no male friends?’
‘Why would I want female friends? They can’t talk about football, or duck hunting, or politics, or lawsuits, or anything that i want to talk about. They talk about kids, clothes, recipes, coupons, furniture, stuff I know nothing about. No, I don’t have any female friends. Don’t want any.’
‘That’s what I love about the South. The people are so tolerant.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Do you have any Jewish friends?’
‘I don’t know of any in Ford County. I had a real good friend in law school, Ira Tauber, from New Jersey. We were very close. I love Jews. Jesus was a Jew, you know. I’ve never understood anti-Semitism.’
‘’My God, you are a liberal. How about, uh, homosexuals?’
‘I feel sorry for them. They don’t know what they’re missing. But that’s their problem.’
‘Could you have a homosexual friend?’
‘I guess, as long as he didn’t tell me.’
‘Nope, you’re a Republican.’
I could write a whole essay about how mind-numbingly dull to read and unnecessarily discriminatory this passage of dialogue between Brigance and Roark is, but for the sake of my general comfort and given the fact that I don’t care enough to point out how blatantly and ridiculously disrespectful this excerpt is – I won’t. I’ll just leave it as it is, and allow anyone reading this review to make their own opinions based upon this unedited piece of wasted words.
It’s easy to read through Jake’s point of view and feel easy in ascribing his miserable temperament and unappealing characteristics to Grisham himself, who I really would prefer to judge as an author here – but his stylisation as an author is also incredibly lacking. Many times while reading, his simplistic prose and tendency to reply upon short sentences grows monotonous. Grisham’s dialogue too deserves criticism for the continuous ambiguity of which character exactly is talking during a scene. A conversation between three characters, for instance, grows confusing and frustrating when every line is one of dialogue that isn’t specified to a particular character.
It’s clear to me that A Time To Kill, published in 1989, does not exactly stand the test or time (no pun intended). As a piece of literature it’s childishly simple and lacking in every place that counts. Candidly speaking, it becomes a chore to have to sift through. Frankly, I can’t help but feel a twinge of pride for getting through it. My earlier advice remains: just watch the film if you have interest in A Time To Kill, as it is far more entertaining and less aggravating than this read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infertility, Torture, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Slavery, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Grief, Antisemitism, Homophobia, and Vomit
Grisham’s treatment of his female characters is deeply misogynistic.schlinkles's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Murder
Minor: Animal death
poodlemama99's review
Frequent use of n word
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence