Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

186 reviews

imjumokay's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

fuck lord henry all my homies hate lord henry. good on victoria for leaving that miserable POS. rich people should have their excesses seized. get a job. my copy of this book was old and withered and musty like dorian gray and his crusty ass. basil <3 bby you didnt deserve what you got <3

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity and Slavery

katbotelho's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this was a reread bc i originally read it when i was too young to comprehend its complexities.

i was also prompted to reread bc i heard recently that netflix is picking it up as a series and theyre going to absolutely butcher if. but that nonsense aside-

i found this much easier to understand and enjoy this time around. the first time i read it i found it difficult to understand how this was an lgbtq+ classic, but although there is no explicit instances of homosexuality (although basil’s confession is a pretty gay if you ask me) you kinda have to look at it through a queer theoretical lens in order to see and understand the queer/ homoerotic subtext.

though i have heard their is an ‘uncensored version’ which i would be interested in getting my hands on to see how it compares to this version

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide

lucyatoz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is about a rich young man, who sits for an artist who paints his portrait. However, there is a curse attached to the painting and the sitter as the painting will age and the man will not! 

This results in Dorian's life ultimately spinning out of control, leading to a suicide of a young woman, who is an actress, and the murder of the one man who could be called his only true friend. 

The story sometimes felt like it was stuck in a loop, and although is wonderfully written and deserves it place as a classic in literature, it was a struggle for me to read with some chapters feeling out of place whilst others were deeply engaging and moved the narrative forward. 

I borrowed a copy of this book from Taunton Library and listened to it on CloudLibrary. I read this for the 52 Book Club Summer Reading Challenge 2024, for prompt 23, Closing Ceremonies, author who hasn't released a book in the past four years.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, and Alcohol

winter_b's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I was expecting this book to mainly be a character study, so I somehow hadn't expected there to be as much plot as there was. Very engaging!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism

readingduckling's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Loved it so much 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Blood

hellioux's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

sophiaxscherm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

1.75

I had such high hopes for this book and really wanted to like it but unfortunately I was disappointed. I really like the idea of the story and when it was about the story, I enjoyed it, even though I never felt like it was really catching and exciting. However, most of the first half are just monologues, mainly by Lord Henry about how he knows everything and just him being a sexist dick. At first, I liked the philosophical monologues but after a while it gets annoying and just doesn't add to the story in my opinion. The second half was a bit more interesting as it focused a little more on the story but still wasn't very exciting. It's so sad because, like I already said, I think it's a great story and I think the most interesting part would have been to see Dorian become this monster, however, we sadly don't really get to see the way there which would have been the best part, instead we get a 20 pages chapter that serves as a fast-forward chapter which only describes in a monologue-style what Dorian did for like a decade, which was so boring that I was really close to just skipping it entirely. Unfortunately, I was very let down.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

perth_is's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

happy pride month, everyone

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

feyx's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first half of the book was a little bit boring. My main thought was Please make Lord Henry shut up but the second half really got me. Absolutely loved the ending

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction

missmarguerita's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Utterly terrifying, fabulous ending. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism