A review by kt2e56
In the Cut by Susanna Moore

dark emotional 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

2.5

I saw the movie for the first time recently and enjoyed it so was excited to read/listen to the book and unfortunately was disappointed. First of all: the voice actress is AWFUL. Truly just terrible. Her voices for Cornelius and Rodriguez are just so unbelievably racist (and pretty goofy tbh. Kinda takes any and all tension away from scenes with them) and her attempt at a brogue for Pauline was equally as offensive. This all really takes away from the story (which has some truly harrowing sequences) but in a way, so does the main romance. Maybe it’s because Mark Ruffalo is so naturally charismatic that he makes Molloy seem less awful in the movie but in the book he’s such a disgusting racist, misogynistic pig and I can’t believe someone who we’re lead to believe is intelligent (and who attempts to challenge other racist characters in the book) would ever put up with such a gross dude. Like surely it can’t JUST be lust!? C’mon girl! Stand up!

I will say that in terms of things I DID like, I mostly enjoyed the author’s writing style and I absolutely LOVED the ending. Probably one of the best (and most shocking) endings to a book I’ve read in quite some time. I also like that certain details I was confused about in the movie were explained here (like the significance of the tattoo).