Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

231 reviews

winter_b's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-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

I was expecting this book to mainly be a character study, so I somehow hadn't expected there to be as much plot as there was. Very engaging!

Content Warnings

readingduckling's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

Loved it so much

Content Warnings

hellioux's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sophiaxscherm's review against another edition

1.75

dark emotional mysterious 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

I had such high hopes for this book and really wanted to like it but unfortunately I was disappointed. I really like the idea of the story and when it was about the story, I enjoyed it, even though I never felt like it was really catching and exciting. However, most of the first half are just monologues, mainly by Lord Henry about how he knows everything and just him being a sexist dick. At first, I liked the philosophical monologues but after a while it gets annoying and just doesn't add to the story in my opinion. The second half was a bit more interesting as it focused a little more on the story but still wasn't very exciting. It's so sad because, like I already said, I think it's a great story and I think the most interesting part would have been to see Dorian become this monster, however, we sadly don't really get to see the way there which would have been the best part, instead we get a 20 pages chapter that serves as a fast-forward chapter which only describes in a monologue-style what Dorian did for like a decade, which was so boring that I was really close to just skipping it entirely. Unfortunately, I was very let down.

Content Warnings

perth_is's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

happy pride month, everyone

Content Warnings

feyx's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The first half of the book was a little bit boring. My main thought was Please make Lord Henry shut up but the second half really got me. Absolutely loved the ending

Content Warnings

readahrita's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Utterly terrifying, fabulous ending.

Content Warnings

decrown's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious 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

everyone is terrible, chapter 11 almost killed me

Content Warnings

tayaingrid's review against another edition

4.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

katie0528's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective slow-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

This is such a famous classic I wanted to read it. For me, I think it being so iconic was it's downfall. The premise is exactly what everyone already knows. That is actually very little of the plot, with the rest of the book containing of Dorian Gray's friend and initial corruptor philosophizing about his personal cynical brand of hedonism that causes and conrinaully exacerbates Dorian's fall. However, it gets quite exhausting, especially since everyone is quite horrible.

Content Warnings

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