Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Fiica doctorului Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

85 reviews

racl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Mexican Gothic, mostly due to the will-they-won't-they relationship between a 35 year old man and the girl (now 20) that he's known since she was 14.
Knowing the resolution of that

They DO NOT get together, but there is a near sexual encounter

removes some of the uncomfortable tension for me and I imagine with more time removed, I'll like this book more.
The twist is what you expect it to be, but is still fairly impactful and the ending is satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, and Slavery

mechtimber's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Violence

Minor: Racism, Slavery, and Death of parent

jillaay_h's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

ehamlett's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Classism

alixbx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

You most likely will not like either of the characters from whom we hear this story: Carlota & Montgomery. Carlota is childish and selfish to a fault and it is very rarely endearing. Montgomery struggles with addiction and is jaded by his ex-wife for who he went into extreme debt to try an keep her married to him. Carlota instigates fights with everyone and Montgomery buys into any disagreement no matter what. Eduardo is a brat. Doctor Moreau is an absolute jerk beginning to end. The only redeemable characters are the hybrids, specifically Cachito and Lupe. Ramona is also a gift. By the end epilogue, Montgomery is somewhat likable because he has the most character development of anyone in the book, but the epilogue's end is really confusion. This next section is really important and contains some level of spoilers and will be marked as such, but if you have any sexual triggers, it'll be important for you to read it.

There are two sexual triggers in this book: age-gap attraction and undisclosed beastiality. The signs that Montgomery is attracted to Carlota are evident pretty early in the book, but it is unclear what their age-gap is until much later in the book. Since Montgomery has already been married and divorced, you can surmise there is a notable age gap, but about 2/3 of the way into the book we learn that it is a 15 year ago gap. The bulk of the book takes place when Carlota is 20 years old and Montgomery is 35. He meets her when she is 14 and still play dolls, and even discussing watching her grow up. It's really uncomfortable to read. Later in the book, there are sexual encounters between Carlota and Eduardo Lizalde. I was not keen minded enough to realize that Carlota herself is a hybrid, shame on me, but she has sex with Eduardo multiple times before it is revealed that she is part jaguar. Eduardo still wishes to have a sexual relationship with her for the remainder of his time in the book. So we learn after the fact that we have this unknowing beastiality and then it becomes a desired sexual encounter. I had to take a break from the book for several hours to really process if I was going to finish it because that's just not something I really want to read about, but I was able to overcome it only because I don't like Eduardo so I never wanted there to be a sexual relationship between Carlota and him, but also because I just don't care for Carlota's character either.

In thinking about all the trigger warnings, my love of Silvia's other book (Mexican Gothic), and the epilogue - I'm not regretful that I've read this book, but I am not as impressed with this story. It is rated lower on average by readers than Mexican Gothic, perhaps because some of the other content in the other book being even more controversial than this, but the plot of the other book is resolved much more neatly than this one. Do not expect a happy ending or a concrete vision of an ending, either. I think I honestly had more questions than answers by the end of it. The only thing I can say positively is that Carlota

doesn't end up in any romantic relationship

and it is so rarely seen for stories where there is a female lead character.

My best advice - really look at the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: War

Beastiality, One-sided attraction, Age-gap attraction, Age-gap sexual content

lpantoja0295's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Taken from my Goodreads since I saved it there first...This story had all the ups and downs. There was love, heartbreak, suspense, triumph, joy, fear, sadness. I enjoyed Moreno-Garcia's storytelling in Mexican Gothic, and still can say enjoy it after reading The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. also loved Carlota and Montgomery's POVS and thought it was well done. Sometimes dual POV can be a hit or miss with the timeline, but that wasn't lost here. At least didn't notice.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual harassment

lailybibliography's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Genocide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

ataraxie's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Une journée de lecture pour un roman incroyable ! Très different de ge que je lis habituellement, j'ai été surprise de ne pas pouvoir lâcher le livre, prisonnière des pages.
Les personnages principaux, bien que pourvus de défauts, sont complexes et intéressants. Leur façon de s'exprimer sonnait désuette et en accord avec la période historique.
Je recommande.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Sexism

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Miscarriage

chinue's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Alcohol