Reviews with content warning for Murder - Dr Jekyll & mr Hyde

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Dr Jekyll & mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

125 reviews

grimmdark's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

i feel like

ending the book on that final sentence of Jekyll's letter and not pulling back out to Utterson's POV to see his reaction or what people said of the case after is a really effective choice. it makes the darkness of Jekyll ending his life after that whole ordeal land really well.

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le_mur's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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alyssoflife's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

The ending was surprisingly abrupt. I wanted to know what happened after the lawyer read the letter.

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gurgelmurgel's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it wasn’t a classic but if you haven’t been spoiled on the ending it might be more exciting

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bootrat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

While I can understand why this book has become a classic, as it was the first of its kind and an interesting take on good vs evil (which was explored a lot in the Victorian era), I found the novella itself fairly underwhelming. I expected there to be more to the story than "Jekyll is good and Hyde is evil", but there just wasn't. I also didn't find the writing compelling or enjoyable at all. I listened to the audiobook, but I think if I'd been reading the physical book I would have been even more bored.

I think going into the book with the societal knowledge that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, and that they're two sides of the same coin, makes reading the book largely pointless. I'm sure if I'd read this at the time it was written, or if I'd never heard of Jekyll and Hyde before, I would have enjoyed the story more and been more drawn into it, but as it is it gets 2 stars.

This version also included the short stories 'The Body Snatcher' and 'Olalla'. These were both also fairly meh.

A note also to say that I largely only read this so I could know the source material before reading 'My Dear Henry' by Kalynn Bayron, which is a queer remix of the classic, but I don't think it was necessary at all! You can enjoy the gay version without bothering with this.

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timmytunter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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valreadsallnight's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

3.25

I did enjoy this, I can see why it did well when it released.

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faerie123's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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essiie's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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carolinebl's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I had previously watched a silent film adaptation, and - like the rest of the world - I was familiar with the story. How remarkable a novel it must have been when it first came out and one was able to read it with fresh eyes! I find it very interesting the explanatory constructs that novelists of this time felt the need to employ; often one will read the plot through letters, as a retelling etc. If Stevenson was a contemporary author the perspective of the novel would have been very different, but I still enjoyed the build up - though some sections could have been shortened/lengthened accordingly. Jekyll’s dilemma still feels very apt over a century later.

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