Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

54 reviews

lunar_witch's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

flygonjinn's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Classism

ragamucky's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Outing, Classism

ladyettejin's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol

reyla__'s review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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One of the easiest beginner classics tbh. Basil deserved better. Rating would be higher if Dorian didn't go on about the things he loved for 20 pages.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

The part where

Dorian stabs his portrait (himself?)

might be suicide? Soul death, if you will

violet_carson's review against another edition

4.0

dark inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism

kreglow's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I will be honest: I did not care for the published version of Dorian Gray that most people are familiar with. It felt unfocused and seemed like a wild (or, perhaps Wilde) pursuit of tangents that felt like diversions rather than conducive to the story. As it turns out, this instinct was somewhat correct, as this original, uncensored version of Wilde's novel is much more focused, while allowing for Wilde to be creative and philosophical while still telling an engaging story. Gone are subplots and a cumbersome second half that seemed to have been added to fill pages, and in their stead are excerpts removed from the original draft that deepen the character relationships and make for a more engaging and tragic story. This is the version people should look for. 

There is also a rather long introduction at the beginning of the book. Whether you choose to read it first or skip it and come back to it later, I highly recommend reading it, as it provides a lot more historical context and shows how Wilde's time shaped the work in all its forms.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

okragarden's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It's a classic for a reason. Despite a few flaws, it's a page turner that sticks with you.

My main criticism is that the dialogue is frequently rambling and repetitive. A character doesn't have to make the same point 15 times. Another is that some supporting characters are not well-written and their interactions with others and reactions to events come off as uncomfortably odd and unnatural.

Given that this book was written in the 1800s by a man who was not interested in women and contains characters meant to be "wicked", it's not surprising there is a lot of negativity towards women. It does start to get annoying after a point.

Lastly, it's a much too easy to figure out where each plot point will go. The story is engaging enough that it doesn't take away from the enjoyment, though.

At just 250 pages it's well worth the time it takes to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

ekgranstro's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting

lizcheek's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective slow-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

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Beautifully horrible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide