Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

61 reviews

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I've always wanted to read something from this author, and I think this might be the only one I read. While it was a quick read, and it was very cinematic, so it was good for getting out of my reading slump, I usually prefer more flowery writing with good quotes. I also wasn't a fan of a lot of the language used in this book, especially the language towards the creatures. Besides that, it was an interesting concept, and it was a quick read. It made me think about the kangaroo dudes from Tank Girl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Blood

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

I wasn't overly thrilled with this story - it wasn't awful, but kinda boring to me. 

If you're not a fan of HG Wells then you may be turned off by the writing style because this is definitely in his usual, somewhat dry, style. It also covers a dark aspect of humanity, like most of his work, so don't expect a happy read. As someone who has read some Wells stories before, I found War of the Worlds (which I recommend to anyone reading Wells for the first time) much more entertaining. It just kinda felt like this one was trying too hard to be deep but didn't really go anywhere or state anything that hasn't been said a hundred times before. 

That being said, this may be more appealing to those with a strong interest in biology or philosophy that examines what it means to be human vs animal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, and Alcohol

Animal vivisection, some outdated language/slurs

devermismysteris's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

darumachan's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

Unsettling meditation on the relationships between humanity, nature, and science

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery

gasoline_allie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Better and MUCH creepier than I expected.  There are so many trigger warnings that apply and are worth looking into before reading, but I'm glad I went in mostly blind.  The concept of exploration and experimentation without ethics remains relevant, as does the question of what it means to be human and how we relate to the natural world. I thought the different ways Prendick and Montgomery interacted with Moreau's creations and Moreau himself was subtly done and interesting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism and Cannibalism

jaimemt_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

belovedsnail's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Very disturbing. I don’t know what to make of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

trin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

2.75

Not Wells' best, and yet indubitably a classic. ("The house of pain!") Moreau's original methods of creation manage to be far creepier than anything later films have come up with -- cloning? Yawn. Unfortunately, there also manages to be a lot of casual racism/antisemitism, including several lines that had me saying "yikes!" and making the grimace emoji 😬 irl. It's not entirely clear how much of this is actually Wells and how much his -- clearly and intentionally -- flawed narrator, but it still takes the modern reader aback. Nevertheless, this remains a swift and effective piece of horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Racism and Antisemitism

katenovah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

asphodelrose7's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt