Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

67 reviews

evs_shelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Colonisation and Addiction

ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

Really enjoyed this book. Loved the writing especially. I read it in three sittings, which is rare for me, couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, and Racism

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

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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.  

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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

sarasreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I had high expectations after really enjoying Mexican Gothic. That book had such atmosphere, mystery, and suspense. It pulled me in, and while it was definitely on the weirder side, I was totally along for the ride. 

This one? The story didn't even begin picking up for me until over halfway through. That is too long. Where was the atmosphere? The mystery? I thought it would be a sci-fi horror mix with tons of atmosphere and thrills, and probably just as weird as MG. It was none of those things. I don't even know if I'd classify it as sci-fi or horror, or romance, or thriller? What is this book? ....uninteresting is all I can come up with, which is a bummer after such high hopes. There was some good character development, and some details and plot points I liked, which is why the rating isn't lower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Colonisation

ehmannky'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

3.75

I think I went into this expecting more horror than this book is. Overall, I'd say it's a lot more of a look at the damage abusive parents can do to their children, even if they love them, and the violence of colonialism mixed in with a coming-of-age story. I truly think Part One could have been done away with entirely and had that background information scattered throughout the rest of the book (it was so slow), but other than that the pacing was good. Something about this book kind of didn't land for me, and I can't figure out what it is. I figured out the twist in like the first chapter, which maybe took some of the joy of reading this away from me (though usually knowing where a story is going doesn't affect my enjoyment of the story so I have no idea why I didn't love this book). I think this book is interesting, but it's nowhere near the same level as Mexican Gothic or Gods of Jade and Shadow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Blood

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

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts

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.

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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

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Alcoholism