Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

54 reviews

mooshake's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

whoever decided that those accents in the audiobook were a good idea, your moms a hoe

i've forgotten most of the plot 2 days after reading this lmao

will i ever like a silvia moreno-garcia book as much as mexican gothic? stay tuned to find out!

also montgomery u knew carlotta since she was 14 stop being a nonce and take a shower

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Colonisation

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, 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

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

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

Minor: Suicide and Colonisation

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts

oliviantoinette's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I was really excited for this book, but I struggled to finish it. Of the two POV characters, one was so passive that she barely did anything and the other was the most boring man in the world. When something finally happened it was summarized in three pages. Every romance was deeply stupid and the familial relationship with the hybrids didn't feel earned at all. The writing was nice on a basic technical level but I couldn't recommend this.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: War, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

hannahlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

As always with Moreno-Garcia, this was a very compelling read and a fascinating setting and plot. The themes of womanhood/personhood vs. monstrosity, civilization vs. barbarism, and chosen family are well explored in literature, but she puts her own spin on them. The story was gripping and the plot tripped along nicely, though there were moments where I wished for a little less overt symbolism, a little more leaving the subtext up to the reader to figure out. Still, Moreno-Garcia is unputdownable, a chameleon across genres, and always provides a fresh new take on familiar tropes, and a well-drawn, well-researched setting for her stories.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, 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.

---

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

adancewithbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Thank you to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau, classic sci-fi tale from 1896 by Wells. A story I read a few years ago. While the writing wasn't for me I did find the ideas very interesting. So when I saw that Moreno-Garcia was writing this book I was very excited. I kept my expectations to a minimum though as you can never know.

I enjoyed the story but also the setting of this book. The setting itself is much more important and thought out. The backdrop of nineteenth century Mexico with the colonailism and class themes adds such more depth to this novel.

Of course the author changed more than that. The experimentations are a bit different but that doesn't take away from the original themes of the original novel, religion, science and morality.

But of course also the addition of the daughter changes a lot. The focus now lays with Carlotta and the hired help Montgomory. This different view gives more depth to some of the themes we get. The morality is very diffent with Montgomory to what it is for Carlotta. Montgomery having been skewed by his previous experiences while Carlotta has been much more protected. Even more so when Carlotta has a bigger role to play in the actual experimentations.

The romance that is in here is in a way an exploration for Carlotta who has been so protected. It felt like it was natural for her to explore that part of her own womanhood when the first young man comes to her. While Montgomory, older and jaded, naturally is drawn to such a naive young woman when she is the only one around for him to be drawn to. But the romance doesn't go the way one would expect. And I really appreciate that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Body horror

Mutations | Body Experimentations

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

---

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