Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

29 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Cancer

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.

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Content Warnings

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

cozyteareads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, Racism, Blood, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Medical content

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.  

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Content Warnings

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

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

kierstyn's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

3.0

The beginning of this book is a little slow with all of the action and interesting stuff being in the last 100 pages. 

This book made me laugh but not for the right reasons. I felt a lot of it was really far fetched. I get that it's kind of sci-fi, but I guess there wasn't enough science to back up that these hybrids as what happens to Carlota could perhaps actually happen. I think a lot of research could have went into this to make it that much more believable and real, but I think a lot was just swept under the rug. It's a cool concept though. 

With some books I am unable to be drawn into the story, I think it may have to do with how the book is written. It happened to me with this book, I was very aware of every page I was turning, and this phenomenon happens with Madeline Miller's books as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

I just kept assuming this was going to be a prequel to The Island, up until that became impossible. I wonder how my impression of the book would differ if I hadn't been working off that frame work for 90% of it.

I really enjoyed this overall, though perhaps a bit less than Mexican Gothic. It's hard to elaborate on why - the characters and their conflicts were all very believable, but I think there were simply too many of them, and some of the story seemed to drag out a bit too long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and War

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

jupitermond's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

utopiastateofmind's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) 

TW: scientific experimentation

Silvia-Moreno Garcia is a master at setting. And The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is no exception. This latest release has atmosphere, hot evenings, and an undercurrent of suspense. Dual POV, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau tells a story which explores sacrifice and self-discovery. When the ones who love us, see us only as objects, resources, commodities, it becomes up to us to define our place. But that journey can be fraught and full of unexpected discoveries. 

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is multi-dimensional. On one hand there are characters who are complex and flawed. Both Carlota and Montgomery have to navigate tangled emotions as well as high stakes choices. Everyone's motivations seem to be obscured and no one is laying down all the cards. They explore the ways we hurt people, the barbed comments, and pointed remarks. At the same time, they also celebrate friendship and support. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

taratearex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Silvia Moreno-Garcia does it again. Set in 19th century Mexico and loosely based on H.G. Wells' book The Island of Doctor Moreau, she takes this sci-fi slow burn mystery/thriller in her own direction by adding the background of historical fiction that she does so well and brings so much depth to the story.  

I love the atmosphere in this and the complicated characters that feel so fully realized you just become so immersed in the world she's created. She does slow burn masterfully, I can't put her books down, this one was no exception. She's truly a master of her craft and she reinvents every genre she explores in each book she writes to make it her own. 

If you liked Mexican Gothic and Velvet is the Night, you'll like this one too. 

Thank you to the publisher and Net gallery for the e-book advanced copy to review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent