Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The Invisible Man

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

22 reviews

vezreads's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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audreylee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.25

It is often said sociopaths walk unseen among us. In "The Invisible Man", this is literally the case. Wells portrays the Invisible Man as a selfish, hateful creature who cares not for those around him. They are there only to provide him with food and money. Wells' portrayal of the common citizen isn't much kinder. They are silly and grasping to the point of sheer stupidity. This is a story of its time. It is heavy on the action and light on the science.

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caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I am glad I read this knowing it was published in serialized form. It reads like the 19th century book version of Jack Bauer's "24" - intro, climax, cliffhanger - repeated over and over again with zero character development. Some reviewers have compared it to Jekyll & Hyde but I have not read that one. To me it gave Frankenstein vibes, except Griffin (THE invisible man) was both Dr. Frankenstein and "the monster." Unfortunately, the lack of character development meant that as a reader I had zero empathy for Griffin as "monster" because his motivations as scientist were never really explained. One thing I did enjoy in this book that Frankenstein did not have was the bits of humor.

We still had an interesting discussion at book club but everyone agreed that overall this book was just ok.

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rory_john14's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

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nyxz's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious

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

3.25

Most of the characters in The Invisible Man is unlikeable, and I really enjoyed reading a book with that quality. From Mrs. Hall and her morbid curiosity about what's under Griffin's bandages when she thinks he's disfigured, to Griffin's descent from general asshole willing to rob a priest to villainous murderer, few of the characters in the novel have redeeming qualities. Reading a novel where the large majority of the cast of characters are inherently flawed was a different from what I normally read. Modern novels often try to appeal to the reader's empathy, but H G Wells actively wrote a main character that is easy to hate and who is the antagonist of everyone else's stories. The Invisible Man was a fun and easy read, and it's a good book to recommend to readers who are trying to get into the classics or older literature. It has some of the issues most older books have, along the lines of racism, antisemitism, sexism, etc., but not to the extent where it cannot be edited out. I switched back and forth between an old and new edition of the book, and the new one lacked a lot of the bigotry the original copy had.

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I had never realized just how short of a story this is. It's told in a style that isn't linear, so you don't hear the "beginning" of the story until later on. I found the psychological impacts of being invisible interesting, but the voice was a tad boring at times. The Invisible Man's interactions with others is by far the best part of the story, and is just the right amount of ridiculousness.

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