Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

El Retrato de Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

60 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

Knowing about Oscar Wilde's past is crucial to reading this novel. It's not just that his gayness was an open secret, but that his targets weren't just men, but also boys. As in actual teenage children. Wilde was also openly Antisemitic and misogynistic in his real life and throughout the novel. What his three main characters do, say, think, and feel very closely mirrors Wilde's own. Much like the titular Dorian, it is clear that Wilde suffered from an inflated ego, was bloated with pride, and had a conscience that weighed him down...but not enough to change, grow, or do better. Trigger warnings abound throughout this novel as we watch Dorian explore the world of vice and sin, leaving a body count in his wake.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cattheteawitchfairy's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.0

DISCLAIMER -  I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased.

Really poetic and interesting reflection. Got a little slow towards the middle but picked up again and was a dark but good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

bookishmagpie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Classism

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

"The sin we had done once, and with loathing, we would do many times, and with joy."

I really liked the censored version without knowing much about it. This was so much better, more complex and more queer. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

kalynlarva's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Addiction

tiredgarlicbread's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Alcohol

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

So to start, this book was not what modern media had lead me to believe it would be, but that is definitely not a bad thing. In the modern media, the characters are straight or at the straight end of bi/pan, whereas here they're straight, gay, or at the gay end of bi/pan. Had I not gone into this knowing Wilde was gay, I would have been wondering after a couple pages.

One of the male characters is madly in love with Dorian and at throughout his character arc,

I found myself crying tears of both joy and heartbreak at various points.

One of the few things I didn't find enjoyable about this book, was Chapter 11. I understand the intention behind that particular chapter completely, but for me it seemed to drag on too much and added relatively little to the story that couldn't have been contained in a couple of paragraphs.

Here is a bullet pointed review I posted elsewhere online:

• Dear God, the gay. I don't even want to count how many gay bits I tabbed.
• Basil is an absolute sweetheart and deserved way better.
• Dorian could have been an amazing person, if he hadn't been corrupted.
• Harry can suck a d*ck. To paraphrase the Frankenstein Vs. monster thing: Knowledge is knowing Harry isn't the villain, wisdom is knowing Harry is the villain.
• Alan reminded me of Dr Jekyll in a lot of ways, which I liked but I don't know if this was intentional or just my brain.
• Chapter 11 dragged so much, and only really added
  "Dorian spent 18 years collecting hobbies, some of which will be briefly mentioned later."
  Probably going to skip it next read.
• And yes, I will be re-reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thestrangebeingyouare's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Misogyny, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

the story is strange and beautiful, but the main characters are all extremely flawed. there are also some aspects of misogyny and antisemitism that are unrelated to the plot, so i do warn you to be aware of the authors prejudices so you can critically read the story.

sagelikesscats's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

I will definitely return to this book. Great writing, great characters, and an amazing ending. I did find that all of the rich people problems get annoying towards the end, but still a fantastic book about beauty, morality, and heathenism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Classism

The classism is less of a thing that happens and more of a general presence throughout the book.

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I loved this! Great classic. Probably one of the most digestible bc of its relatively short length. My only complaint would be that some sections dragged in the middle to me (all the super long descriptions of what Dorian was learning)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation