Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

61 reviews

fepope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

kubs's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

Oscar Wilde's writing is so nice to read. Dorian's not as bad as they say but he's been up to some bad stuff.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

mangonana's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

seforaflorian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

renardthefox's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Read for A240.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

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

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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

athenian_frog's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I loved the atmosphere as well as the SEVERAL footnotes clarifying all the LGBT references Oscar Wilde made for his time. The ones describing what publishers wanted to change were also hilarious, 90% of it was because Wilde was letting his characters act too gay lmao.

The book kinda lost me around the 70% mark, but I came back around to finish it. I think the page-long moments of people speaking were starting to get to me. Reminded me of Plato’s essays where Socrates will talk for a really long time, and I needed a bit of a break during that RIP. 

I definitely recommend reading this, though. There are a lot of interesting things to be said about morality, the value of beauty, and how both can influence our perception (like the halo effect).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

pinetree_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

evemlacey's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

The Picture of Dorian Gray was a wonderful read- and luckily, I went into it free of spoilers. I was rather satisfied with the ending. I felt as if it could've been slightly more dramatic but otherwise, I found it a logical yet poetic finish to the book.

If I could describe this book in three words, I would say eerie, meaningful, and poetic. Reading this made me realise once again what an incredible writer Oscar Wilde was. I've seen a few negative reviews from the book, but I genuinely enjoyed it.

I think a lot of people assume that Dorian Gray sells his soul to Lucifer, which is not true. I was a little confused at first but essentially, he just makes a wish to stay youthful and the portrait to instead reflect his age. It is unexplained how that works- but I like when the reader has to analyse and come to a conclusion by themself.

Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. It's a must-read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship