Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

18 reviews

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.25

Steeped in gender roles, misogyny, and the plot heavily revolves around sexual violence. 

Very engaging and easy to read (finished the whole thing in two sittings in less than a day), enjoyed the medical details and I found the killers POV moments creative and intriguing but was bored by the two main characters and found them very unsympathetic (especially Rizzoli's internalised misogyny and both cops' unethical behaviour at different points). Was also highly disappointed by the completely unnecessary "twist" that
the villain had worn a wig/crossdressed, contributing to the tired and queer/transphobic trope of serial killer men donning drag as part of their villainy.
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taque's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

really good mystery story, but way more graphic than I would have liked
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madisonbell_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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hkburke2's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

I enjoyed the writing and the pacing was... Motivating, I guess. It kept me engaged. Several things did not age well here, though.
Gender essentialism with the uterus, Rizzoli's whole character is developed around her looks without a lot of depth/appreciation for the systems around her (although there's some acknowledgment of the pressures on her as a woman in the department, it feels really surface level), and the flaw in her character being she just wants to kill suspects - definitely not a good look and something she'd struggle to come back from, for me.
Also weird there's no Isles? I guess this is just further confirming for me that when it comes to books I like cozy detective stories/mysteries, not "modern day" police procedurals. But if that's your thing, the writing here at least could sell you on this. I can see why they wanted it for TV. (I listened to the version narrated by Laurel Lefkow). 
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marleens's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.0

Knowing this book is ‘Rizzoli&Isles #1’ I went in with very different expectations, but this is not a book about likeable strong women figuring out the murder. Isles is nowhere to be seen yet and Rizzoli is a (to me) rather unlikeable side character. It’s also a pretty dated read by now. Aside from the dated technology there is a lot of misogyny and sexism in the story, and I would hope that that would no longer be written like this today… Aside from all this I did mostly have a good time reading it. The pace is fast, the stakes are high, and I enjoyed the fact that we got the killer’s inner monologue as a POV as well.
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dhutton1997's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

holy crap. I checked out this book from my library after the StoryGraph recommended it and I’m so glad they did. I typically have a difficult time reading books about serial rapists &killer combos, but Gerritsen does such a good job of balancing scary, suspenseful moments with a budding romance and potential love triangle between
Rizzolli, Moore, and Catherine
. The book kept me on the edge of my seat. I would not recommend this book if you do not want to read stories about law enforcement. 
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madisonfrank's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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anigoose's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

0/10 no bears involved, disappointing.

I truly don't like to give books low ratings and this doesn't get a one star because I still enjoyed the process of reading it...just, you know, not for the reasons I think any author wants. I don't think I like crime procedurals, and this was written at the height of CSI's popularity, and it read like CSI fanfic. Which might be PRECISELY what you are looking for. I can see this being the sort of book someone finds comforting and thrilling and cheesy all at the same time - I just don't think it's quite mine. 


I do love reading crime based books set in Boston, though. My husband and I like to guess how many pages it'll be before the new BPD building in Roxbury is described.  Was especially charmed by frequent references to "the Back Bay".  Never have I read of so many people who just...don't use the T. Ever. Lol. 
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