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shetef's review against another edition
any author that uses the word "pediphile" to describe a foot fetishist should be shoved in a locker.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Misogyny
Moderate: Infidelity
aristata9000's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I hesitate to call this book a thriller. I was disappointed by the characters and plot line. The focus for the first part of the book seemed to be on Brody’s wife’s unhappiness with her life rather than the shark that was killing people in town. The ending was disappointing to say the least and had no punch. Even the hunt and subsequent fight with the shark did not have high enough stakes, which could have been fixed with better writing. Just watch the movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Rape
bearystarry's review against another edition
dark
slow-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
0.25
I literally only finished this book so I could rate it because I hated it so much. The only interesting/good parts were the parts about the shark, everything else was a nightmarish mixture of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and weird rape fantasies. And also some copaganda and animal torture/cruelty for fun, I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Antisemitism
odrib's review against another edition
dark
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? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Rape, and Lesbophobia
aghoststory's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, and Racism
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
1.0
To say I am disappointed in this book is an understatement. The shark wasn't even the main focus of the book!
I adore sharks and shark movies, especially the Jaws franchise, and yet, I had never read the book before. Having read the book now, I appreciate all the changes Steven Spielberg made for the movie adaptation so much more. I understand Jaws was written in 1974 and I have tried to keep that in mind but the movie came out the following year and all the problematic issues from the book had been taken out and the plot line had been improved greatly, so although it was a different time back then, Spielberg still made those much needed changes.
I adore sharks and shark movies, especially the Jaws franchise, and yet, I had never read the book before. Having read the book now, I appreciate all the changes Steven Spielberg made for the movie adaptation so much more. I understand Jaws was written in 1974 and I have tried to keep that in mind but the movie came out the following year and all the problematic issues from the book had been taken out and the plot line had been improved greatly, so although it was a different time back then, Spielberg still made those much needed changes.
The first issue I have with the book is the homophobic language: within the first few pages we see homophobic slurs being used to describe a group of men. Again, further into the story, more homophobic slurs being used against a girl who lives on the island.
Secondly, the sexist language, remarks and behaviours were just ridiculous. The descriptions of the female characters and women on the beach from the male characters point of view were disgusting. After the first shark attack the mayor of the town wanted to over ride the cause of death concluded by the coroner to a potential suicide on the basis that the girl may have been on her period at the time of swimming in the water and therefore, asking to be attacked by a shark. I could not have rolled my eyes more heavily at this scene. There was the very stereotypical dominant male theme throughout the book: husband makes the rules, belittles the wife, makes crude and abusive remarks, threatens physical abuse, doting wife is tempted by the new, smart guy in town and has a brief affair with him.
There was unnecessary focus placed on the corrupt police department on the island: treating rape like an inconvenience and covering it up. The whole book glorified rape, racism and rape and rape fantasies to be perfectly honest. One of the main characters was possibly raped throughout the story and it was written as a sordid affair and fantasy of a housewife, which again, was just an unnecessary added plot line.
Another thing that just ruined the story for me was the introduction of the mafia into the story... yes, you read the correctly. The mafia had a hand in all the shark attacks because they were forcing the town mayor to keep the public beaches open because he was in debt to them and they did not want money, they wanted favours, in the form of keeping public beaches open...
Lastly, there was so much unnecessary killing and torturing of sharks and other animals for enjoyment throughout the book. It was disgusting to read, in great detail, the injuring and suffering of the sharks and other animals at the hands of the main characters in this book.
What was the main plotline of Jaws? Was it the mafia infiltrating a small seaside town? Was it the decline of a marriage resulting in an affair? Was it a corrupt police department? Because it definitely was not the shark. The chase to catch the shark lasted two chapters and in the end, the shark just died randomly, 2ft away from Chief Brody, mouth open, ready to attack. An even more disappointing ending to a disappointing book.
Honestly, Steven Spielberg made some much needed changes for the film adaptation and I am so glad he did. He turned a badly written book into an iconic, well written and directed movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
brookey8888's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I’m sad I didn’t like this. I don’t know if the characters are supposed to be unlikable but I literally hated all of them. The few shark parts were good and kind of creepy, but other then that I was just annoyed and rolling my eyes.
What I didn’t like
Weirdly mentioning a black man raping rich white women multiple times(had nothing to do with the plot)Brought it up again because it’s bad for tourism
the weird sexual talk about children
Cheating (I listen to the audiobook and I swear there was an hour chapter of a wife cheating on her husband)
Weird sexual things(i’m looking shaming but there was taco CNC which is fine but I feel weird when a man writes it just for I don’t know I just didn’t think it was well Done)
Hardly any shark action(there was about three scenes before they went after the shark and even then they were like very short)
Racism and antisemitic just casual
Fat phobia
Character said I don’t care if he’s out laying girls scouts(like those are children sir).
What I didn’t like
Weirdly mentioning a black man raping rich white women multiple times(had nothing to do with the plot)Brought it up again because it’s bad for tourism
the weird sexual talk about children
Cheating (I listen to the audiobook and I swear there was an hour chapter of a wife cheating on her husband)
Weird sexual things(i’m looking shaming but there was taco CNC which is fine but I feel weird when a man writes it just for I don’t know I just didn’t think it was well Done)
Hardly any shark action(there was about three scenes before they went after the shark and even then they were like very short)
Racism and antisemitic just casual
Fat phobia
Character said I don’t care if he’s out laying girls scouts(like those are children sir).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism