Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

19 reviews

nubecato's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Body horror

Minor: Torture

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was an interesting short read. It has a plot that keeps you engaged, but at the same time that plot isn't really the point of the story. This book is really just one big metaphor reflecting on humanity and what being human means. It's about what separates us from animals and what doesn't. I think the end where

  Prendick starts to see the animal traits in real humans

really drives this home. 

There's a lot of interesting things this book calls into question. I find myself thinking of the humanity of Doctor Moreau and  Montgomery verses the

beast people and wonder which actually express more humanity. I think on that island everyone slipped back to their natural beastly ways at least a bit even the humans and especially Moreau with his horrible cruelty. Montgomery as well seemed to show this with the way he just laid down and accepted Moreau's actions, seeming to slip a bit into obedience. You could even compare the way he bent to Moreau to the way his companion M'Ling bent to him.

Overall, I'd probably give the story about a 3 star rating, but if you view it as an extended metaphor, I'd give it a more than 4 star rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Racism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt and Fire/Fire injury

kalea_02's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Blood, and Alcohol

jbabbm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was better than I expected, and it's an easy to read classic. Wells decided to use the Island and its Beast Folk as a literary device to tackle various moral topics. I truly consider this a must read.

Also, this is classified as a children's book apparently but I honestly wouldn't read it to children below the age of 10 at least. It's not scary or gory, but I do think that it deals with complicated subjects that may prove too heavy/upsetting for a kid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

robynsimpson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

crufts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

3.25

In The Island of Dr Moreau, HG Wells asks us: where is the line drawn between human and beast? And what would happen if that narrow line began to fray?

The tale is told by Londoner Edward Prendick, a man from London who has the misfortune to be shipwrecked, eventually coming ashore the titular island. Here he finds the amoral Dr Moreau, a once-renowned London surgeon who was chased out of town after his bizarre and cruel animal experiments were publicized. Sure enough, the island is crawling with the strange half-human, half-beast results of his experiments...

At a slim 133 pages, the book can't help but run at a good pace. Similarly, the locations and characters used are condensed to a minimal few, maintaining a strong sense of unity and cohesion. The story also ends on a strong note that ties together everything the protagonist has seen over the course of the book.

While vivid horror themes like these are not my favourite, The Island of Dr Moreau is nonetheless a strong example of the genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Racism

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