The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

4.08 AVERAGE

c_serpent's profile picture

c_serpent's review against another edition

3.0
I expected more from you, Mr. Wilde?!

Two stars have been removed for antisemitism, misogyny, and also just like the middle chunk of the book which was SO BORING. The only good parts are the parts where the characters are speaking to one another. Two stars remain for that. One star has been awarded because somehow I never realized this book is categorized as horror, and it is, at its heart, a horror novel.

Total score: 3/5 stars

kbossse16's review against another edition

5.0
dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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
halesceleste's profile picture

halesceleste's review against another edition

3.0
dark emotional 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
Kept me intrigued until the end. Glad I read it.

strawbe_rese's review against another edition

3.0
The characters in the novel are fascinating. Dorian is a beautiful, empty headed boy ripe to be filled with Lord Henry's ever-flowing thoughts and ideas. The lesson to be learned is clear as we see Dorian's growing obsession with remaining young and beautiful grow as we witness other character's fixation with beauty and youth imprint and influence his mind. His deepest desire is granted and his spiral downwards is as fascinating to behold as it is grotesque.

jschosh's review against another edition

4.0
This was my first experience with Oscar Wilde and I enjoyed it greatly. This book was way different than I anticipated, although I can't say what I thought it was going to be. It was really the supernatural aspect that threw me off.

And going off that like wow this had some weirdly similar themes to the ones I studied in my horror literature class last semester. There was a serious case of doubling going on and the parallels between this story and Edgar Allan Poe's short story "William Wilson" are... uncanny. (heh heh)

Besides about 50 pages or so in the middle the book moved fast and although the plot was kind of predictable, Wilde somehow kept it interesting. And Lord Henry is one of the funniest characters of all time, he constantly had me laughing out loud.

Oh and I got the copyright on a dark, modern, romantic comedy based on this book because that's a untapped goldmine. The script is in the works I'll keep you all in the loop.

(god this review was such a shit show I apologize)

swamp__hag's review against another edition

3.75
dark reflective 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

acioffi25's review against another edition

4.0
emotional funny relaxing medium-paced

chloerickson's review against another edition

3.5
dark reflective 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
Iconic 

xo_trh's review against another edition

3.0
dark mysterious 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

jennfarrant's review against another edition

4.0
dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated