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dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was such an interesting book to read! to give you a brief idea, i'd describe stevenson's the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde as a gothic-vibe novel that explores the themes of the duality of human nature, identity, and morality.
while it feels a bit slow-paced at first, once the story gets going, it's really hard to put down! the mystery of trying to figure out how jekyll and hyde are connected keeps you hooked - even if you already know the twist (for example, from the musical, like me). be advised that it does contain mentions / descriptions of addiction, body horror, drug usage, mental illness, murder, suicide, and violence - they might not be as extreme or graphic as they are in modern literature, but i felt like pointing it out regardless. :)
in terms of language, it's obviously a bit old-fashioned, but you can definitely understand everything / the most from the context. it also switches perspectives towards the end, but it's quite clear who's sharing their side of the story.
overall, it's definitely a classic worth reading if you enjoy victorian literature, psychological horror, and the topic of moral decay. this is not a tale of good vs. evil, as some reviews might suggest, but rather the story of a hypocrite of a man attempting to justify his darker impulses and desires, while refusing to acknowledge they're a part of him - ultimately leaving him to spiral towards his inevitable destruction.
while it feels a bit slow-paced at first, once the story gets going, it's really hard to put down! the mystery of trying to figure out how jekyll and hyde are connected keeps you hooked - even if you already know the twist (for example, from the musical, like me). be advised that it does contain mentions / descriptions of addiction, body horror, drug usage, mental illness, murder, suicide, and violence - they might not be as extreme or graphic as they are in modern literature, but i felt like pointing it out regardless. :)
in terms of language, it's obviously a bit old-fashioned, but you can definitely understand everything / the most from the context. it also switches perspectives towards the end, but it's quite clear who's sharing their side of the story.
overall, it's definitely a classic worth reading if you enjoy victorian literature, psychological horror, and the topic of moral decay. this is not a tale of good vs. evil, as some reviews might suggest, but rather the story of a hypocrite of a man attempting to justify his darker impulses and desires, while refusing to acknowledge they're a part of him - ultimately leaving him to spiral towards his inevitable destruction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Murder
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gore, Classism
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence
Minor: Confinement
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
“…I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.”
The legacy that Dr Jekyll and his alter ego, Mr Hyde, have left on the Western world is a strange one. Almost 140 years later, most people can still recognise these characters when they appear onscreen, perhaps even know of the original story they are from, and yet surprisingly few people can say that they’ve actually taken the time to read the novella. I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely worth your time to do so.
While The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde unfortunately hasn’t aged as well as some of its contemporaries, its historical value is nonetheless fascinating as it presents a unique and complex insight into the 19th century psyche. However, I did find without the historical context it’s incredibly easy to miss a lot of the story. The Penguin edition with notes by Robert Mighall phenomenally helps with this, and I couldn’t recommend this version more.
You can tell that Robert Louis Stevenson was an incredibly intelligent man, well-read on the current sciences of his time with equally impressive creativity to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, I found it to be very vivid, moody, and even frightening at times. His use of suspense and terror as well is nothing short of remarkable, and I came to notice this more when reading the short stories I was previously unfamiliar with; The Body Snatcher and Olalla. They were great reads, I would say just as much as Jekyll and Hyde was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Suicide, Cannibalism, Classism
Minor: Racism, Sexism, Death of parent
I do believe it would be wrong to read these works without a level of cynicism. Partly what makes this collection so interesting, but also so backwards, was just how pseudoscientific Victorian era science really was. When reading Stevenson’s work, you start to realise how we have actually held onto many of these pseudoscientific beliefs in our collective unconscious, and noticing this has given me the incentive to finally dismantle it. However, if you find that rampant ableism is too much for your sensibilities, I would give this book a miss.