Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Invisible Man

I am glad I read this knowing it was published in serialized form. It reads like the 19th century book version of Jack Bauer's "24" - intro, climax, cliffhanger - repeated over and over again with zero character development. Some reviewers have compared it to Jekyll & Hyde but I have not read that one. To me it gave Frankenstein vibes, except Griffin (THE invisible man) was both Dr. Frankenstein and "the monster." Unfortunately, the lack of character development meant that as a reader I had zero empathy for Griffin as "monster" because his motivations as scientist were never really explained. One thing I did enjoy in this book that Frankenstein did not have was the bits of humor.

We still had an interesting discussion at book club but everyone agreed that overall this book was just ok.

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rory_john14's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

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pigeonpersona's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

This was overall an enjoyable read, and I'm glad I picked it up. But the plot was a bit basic, as were the characters. The writing style was enjoyable.

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious

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

3.25

Most of the characters in The Invisible Man is unlikeable, and I really enjoyed reading a book with that quality. From Mrs. Hall and her morbid curiosity about what's under Griffin's bandages when she thinks he's disfigured, to Griffin's descent from general asshole willing to rob a priest to villainous murderer, few of the characters in the novel have redeeming qualities. Reading a novel where the large majority of the cast of characters are inherently flawed was a different from what I normally read. Modern novels often try to appeal to the reader's empathy, but H G Wells actively wrote a main character that is easy to hate and who is the antagonist of everyone else's stories. The Invisible Man was a fun and easy read, and it's a good book to recommend to readers who are trying to get into the classics or older literature. It has some of the issues most older books have, along the lines of racism, antisemitism, sexism, etc., but not to the extent where it cannot be edited out. I switched back and forth between an old and new edition of the book, and the new one lacked a lot of the bigotry the original copy had.

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