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fairytalefootnotes's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Slavery, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
inirac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
lady_valhella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism
apgodsen's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Cancer and Infertility
meat_muffin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Pregnancy
vixenreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Murder, Dysphoria, and War
Please remember to be aware of animal-human hybrids, death of a spouse, grief over a lost relationship, financial struggles, dehumanizations of slaves, attempted rape, animal violence, first sex experiences, narcissism, surrogacy, and experimentation on animals.bessadams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, and Murder
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a smart, atmospheric, anticolonial / feminist reimagining of an H.G. Wells classic. It’s not the fastest paced, but it is very good.
For you if: You like gothic sci-fi novels that dip a toe into body horror.
FULL REVIEW:
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau has been sitting on my shelf since it came out, but its nomination for the 2023 Hugo Award bumped it to the top of my list. And I’m glad it did! This book is smart and well done, and I enjoyed it.
This book is a loose reimagining of a classic sci-fi novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. That book is about a shipwrecked man who bears witness to Moreau’s vivisection experiments, which attempt to turn animals into humans. This one places the story on the Yucatan Peninsula during the war between its indigenous people and colonizers, gives Moreau a daughter and makes her — and the caretaker, Montgomery — the focus, and replaces the shipwrecked visitor with the son of their wealthy patron. It takes the original’s themes around morality and man playing god, and adds colonization and misogyny into the mix.
I haven’t read The Island of Doctor Moreau, but I did read a summary before starting this, which was enough (and a choice I highly recommend). This book’s brilliance is in the way it clearly pays homage to the original while also reclaiming it to say something wholly new and also critique that work itself. Without a glimpse into that conversation, I don’t think this book would be as engaging or impactful.
Regardless though, it’s not the fastest paced, but it’s extremely atmospheric and leans into the gothic, light body horror vibes. Perfect for readers who don’t shy away from the grotesque but also don’t love full-on horror. The audiobook was also a fantastic accompaniment!
I’d be happy to see this book take the Hugo!
Graphic: Gun violence and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
moreau's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
I think this book was ruined for me because I'm too big a fan of the original book, I honestly think it's a safe bet to say I'm the biggest Island of Dr Moreau fan alive today. On it's own, this book is really good but I can't help being annoyed by the fact it's different to how I interpreted Wells's novel. First of all, why is Montgomery straight? Even Moreau being married at one point changes his character a lot but I can live with that, Montgomery seems so queercoded to me that it felt weird hearing him crush on Carlota and talk about Fanny. I also don't get his last name being Laughton? Charles Laughton plays Moreau in the 1932 film, so I assume it's in homage to that, and Montgomery's actor did have an atrocious name (Hohl) but Val Kilmer also played him and Kilmer is a cool ass name, I think I've always just imagined Montgomery's name to be.. Montgomery Montgomery. I really liked Montgomery and Moreau's characters in this, they're reminiscent of the original characters while having their own depths and charms. I also really loved the Mexican cultural aspect of this book, I found it very interesting and added to the story. I wonder if Carlota's name is a reference to Lota, the panther woman in the 1932 film, if so that's really cool. I found this book severely lacking in the actual hybrid aspect, the hybrids aren't as animalistic as I think they should be. There's no M'Ling too, he's my favourite hybrid. But yeah, the hybrids just felt like more people. They don't have their finger classing, they don't have the law, the House of Pain does appear but not very much.. it just felt so lacking. How do the hybrids act so civilized when they don't even have The Law? You could get rid of every aspect of this book relating it to Dr Moreau and it wouldn't be that different. I did like Carlota becoming most beastly as the book goes on, I'm a sucker for female rage portrayed by being a cat girl. This just felt more like Cat People than Dr Moreau honestly, if it'd focused more on the sci-fi and horror aspect I'd have been more into it. I also hope Eduardo isn't supposed to be Edward because Eduardo sucks. Also also Moreau dying at the end threw me off, I think it's really interesting in the original book how long it goes on after him and Montgomery die, you get to see Edward and the beast people deal with it and it's rather deep. But yeah, if you aren't as autistic about Moreau as me this is good.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror and Pregnancy