Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

44 reviews

kshertz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Excellent idea and execution. HG wells eat your heart out. Looking at that story through a woman’s eyes and colonization felt essential. It was bold and mysterious. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t see the twist coming, though it was right there in my face. While I always prefer happily ever afters, this story was told how it would more likely happen and I think it’s a great story to stay up all night and enjoy. Highly recommend!

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

somebooksomewhere's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

There's a good novella in this book if you chopped out a lot of nothing. The premise is intriguing, the prose is good, and Carlota isn't a bad viewpoint character. But 2/3 of the pages are taken up by tedious romantic drama that goes nowhere and could have been set up in a chapter. Montgomery also sucks a lot of life out of the story. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has many strengths, but writing a compelling protagonist man is not one of them. The human-animal hybrids who should be the stars of the story are barely there, but in them there's the bones of something great.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

northernzephyr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence

Minor: Slavery

hanahf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

melliedm's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

A thrilling exploration of humanity and identity set on a hybrid background of H.G. Wells’ Moreau and  The Caste War of Yucatan 1847. Moreno-Garcia has an excellent way of merging a classic gothic style and an accessible/modern prose that almost always works well for me. I had a bit of an expectation of a darker book along the lines of Mexican Gothic, but I still enjoyed this one! 

My only dislike for this book is how the alternating perspective works in the first half. Too frequently the Carlota and Montgomery swaps spent too much time retreading the same moments before getting into something fresh. This lessened in the second half, which is when the novel began to really shine.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

daniellekat's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing and this book was no exception. Her writing is descriptive without being tedious and she can capture your attention in a book so easily.
That being said, I didn’t love this book. It was ok. The writing was excellent but the plot was a bit predictable and I didn’t like the love triangle angle of the story. Also the pacing of the plot was weird to me. The first 3/4 of the book moved SO slowly and then the last few chapters were very fast paced and exciting. I haven’t read the original Dr. Moreau so I’m not sure I’m how this compares but if Frankenstein meets Mexican Gothic is your vibe I would definitely recommend. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide and Colonisation

elliehoney's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal cruelty

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence