Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

177 reviews

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

A classic in so many ways with poignant reflections on youth, beauty and what makes a good person. There are also so many layers of queerness in each of the characters and their relationships. 

It is certainly a product of its time, with several sexist comments and some antisemitic portrayals. Readers should be aware of this before beginning to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Antisemitism

katewhite77's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

A queer classic 

I can't remember a book that has surprised me so much with all its twists and turns. Elements of the super natural also appear. 

This is my first time reading Wilde and it won't be last. There are so many famous quotes in this novel alone. 

There are some racial slurs which are of their time. The internalised hemophobia drips off most pages but that is why it is such an important book to read now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Murder

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Blood, Body horror, and Suicide

alyssapusateri's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Classism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity and Antisemitism

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective relaxing medium-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? Yes

4.25

There are lots of things I liked and did not like about this book, but I overall enjoyed it and think it’s worthy of at least 4 stars. At first I didn’t like it that much because it was a bit difficult to read in the sense that so much talking was being done about things I couldn’t really understand, but once I started reading it from a more chill perspective I enjoyed it 10x as much. When reading it you’ll come to realize that the beauty of the book lies in the writing itself, which is just amazing. I also really liked how the plot progressed and how Dorian’s character gradually changed so horribly due to Henry’s influence (which I’m so mad about). Overall, this book is literally art and I will probably read it again in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Suicide, and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse

theliteraryteapot's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.25

Alright, I didn't like it. The constant misogyny is insufferable and the philosophical aspect gets quickly annoying. And the story isn't that much interesting to me. I like the gothic elements though.
On the other hand, I loved the prose (I read a 1958 French translation).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Antisemitism, Blood, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Drug use

fe_aye's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Classism, Misogyny, Death, Suicide, and Animal death

carla20's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Suicide, Blood, Death, and Drug use

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this! Great classic. Probably one of the most digestible bc of its relatively short length. My only complaint would be that some sections dragged in the middle to me (all the super long descriptions of what Dorian was learning)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, and Death of parent

kiran__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Makes you think and reflect. There are a lot of twists and turns that you don’t expect. This book is so beautifully and carefully written. It portrays society's obsession with youth and beauty and how it completely disregards all other things. All the characters were so carefully constructed and interesting - it really made the story come to life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse