Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
18 reviews
thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
“…I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.”
The legacy that Dr Jekyll and his alter ego, Mr Hyde, have left on the Western world is a strange one. Almost 140 years later, most people can still recognise these characters when they appear onscreen, perhaps even know of the original story they are from, and yet surprisingly few people can say that they’ve actually taken the time to read the novella. I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely worth your time to do so.
While The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde unfortunately hasn’t aged as well as some of its contemporaries, its historical value is nonetheless fascinating as it presents a unique and complex insight into the 19th century psyche. However, I did find without the historical context it’s incredibly easy to miss a lot of the story. The Penguin edition with notes by Robert Mighall phenomenally helps with this, and I couldn’t recommend this version more.
You can tell that Robert Louis Stevenson was an incredibly intelligent man, well-read on the current sciences of his time with equally impressive creativity to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, I found it to be very vivid, moody, and even frightening at times. His use of suspense and terror as well is nothing short of remarkable, and I came to notice this more when reading the short stories I was previously unfamiliar with; The Body Snatcher and Olalla. They were great reads, I would say just as much as Jekyll and Hyde was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide, Incest, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Classism, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, and Racism
I do believe it would be wrong to read these works without a level of cynicism. Partly what makes this collection so interesting, but also so backwards, was just how pseudoscientific Victorian era science really was. When reading Stevenson’s work, you start to realise how we have actually held onto many of these pseudoscientific beliefs in our collective unconscious, and noticing this has given me the incentive to finally dismantle it. However, if you find that rampant ableism is too much for your sensibilities, I would give this book a miss.riverofhorton's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
This was a very interesting and in places somewhat unexpected read. I knew the basic premise that Jekyll and Hyde share the same body with Jekyll being the 'good' side and Hyde being the 'bad' side , but I hadn't anticipated the subtext of repressed homosexuality contained within the Hyde character. I also hadn't expected one of the characters to be accepting of this, but questioning of the perceived choice of partner . I also went into this expecting some discussion of substance use based on other media, but I wasn't expecting the suicide towards the end, I did find this to have been well done within the context of the story however.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and will likely re-read it in the future
Overall, I enjoyed this story and will likely re-read it in the future
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Violence
kananineko's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Body horror, Blood, and Cursing
evitak's review
dark
mysterious
fast-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
3.75
I had a lot of expectations for this book, but in the end I feel like it had a lot more to do with its concept than it ever delivered on. I was expecting it to go a very different way. It touches on very interesting subjects in my opinion, but never quite expands upon then as much as I hoped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Murder
hollystopreading's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Nice! Quick read and unlike simaliar books (Frankenstein) gets right into the action.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse and Violence
lovelynovellas's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Ableism, Drug use, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
burdiebird's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Mental illness
knightreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Addiction, and Murder
meganpbennett's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
True story: when watching The Avengers (2012) for the first time, after meeting Dr Banner, my mom said, "I take it that was Hulk?" to which I replied, "that was Dr. Jekyll." Turns out I owe poor Bruce an apology. While there are similarities between the two men, reading the book for the first time showed that, as in a lot of classic Victorian horror texts, the adaptations have taken on a life of their own, the monsters from the stories becoming those from the movies, not the books.
As discussed in the introduction to the Signet Classics edition (by no more than Vladimir Nabovok himself), the story is a mediocre detective story, going through the motions of a Victorian mystery. It is, however, a splendid look at how good and evil exist within each person, and how attempting to alter the balance within oneself is not a good idea.
As discussed in the introduction to the Signet Classics edition (by no more than Vladimir Nabovok himself), the story is a mediocre detective story, going through the motions of a Victorian mystery. It is, however, a splendid look at how good and evil exist within each person, and how attempting to alter the balance within oneself is not a good idea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Suicide, Mental illness, and Death
cinnamonghostie's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I am studying this for school. I will raise my rating to five stars if I get an A on the exam. Deal?
PS: The exam is tomorrow and I don't think this rating will be going anywhere :)
PS: The exam is tomorrow and I don't think this rating will be going anywhere :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide