Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

84 reviews

crystal_lake80's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gun violence

audreylee's review against another edition

dark slow-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

2.0

Had this been edited, it could have been an intense, creepy story of survival instead of a slow, rambling tale of madness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

rydwyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Gore, Racism, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, and Cannibalism

Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, Sexual assault, Slavery, Antisemitism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

grey_jayne's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This is a problematic book. I first experienced Wells' racism in The Invisible Man but it's also pretty bad here. Here's the proof:

Dr Moreau creates a "negroid" beast person by mutilating a gorilla.

As a document of foundational sci-fi, it is important.  The transformations don't make a lot of sense but what this story brings with it in buckets is...body horror. Moreau's "science" is gory torture and later events, which I won't spoil, bring more body horror. I was surprised how gruesome this book was.

For HG Wells, I'd recommend Food of the Gods, War of the Worlds and The Time Machine over this one. This is still worth a look for where Wells started.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Racial slurs, and Racism

sarahrk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is wildly disturbing but one of the best books I’ve ever read. I find myself still thinking about it months later. It will absolutely stick with you long after you read it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence

rachelditty's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

RIP Dog-man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

jowmy4's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

looney_moons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

2.5

This just wasn't it for me. The writing feels way to pretentious and while I like the concept of the story, I don't like the format nor the abuse. I understand that this might be a metaphor but if it is, it is not a very good one. I liked the story but not the writing. The only thing that got me through it was listening to the audiobook while simultaneously reading it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

Moderate: Ableism and Racism

katieg's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

3.0

Fast paced story with almost cinematic writing and engaging descriptions. Themes concerning experimentation, animality, and Enlightenment rationale were well developed. The protagonist was a blank page and clear insertion for the reader, but Moreau was a pretty complex character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty