2.45k reviews for:

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens

3.64 AVERAGE

adventurous 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
sad slow-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: Yes
dark funny sad 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: No

This meandering, character-heavy story has some merits — drowned out as they are by an opprobrious tide of anti-Semitism, sexism and homophobia. 

3.5
adventurous dark
adventurous dark reflective slow-paced
adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Overall, the writing and story were phenomenal. In fact, a certain misfortune upon a certain character made my eyes water just a little for a book (or movie, or story) for the first time. Absolutely terrific! The only things that really kept it from being five stars was the romance, as it felt rushed and unnecessary, and the slight lack of depth in Oliver’s character. I would have liked to see Oliver’s personality other than simply his morals or attitude (i.e. his interactions with Dick, the orphan boy Oliver became good friends with). I also find it worth mentioning that while some have commented on the misogyny in this book as a negative quality, I must disagree. You’ll notice the characters clearly depicted as “bad” are the misogynistic ones and those that are good or at least somewhere in the middle oppose it. Not to mention, some of the kindest and bravest characters are women, so if anything, I would say this book, while not necessarily feminist, is certainly anti-misogyny. 
Nancy’s death made me quite sad (even though I knew what was going to happen ahead of time) and the death of Sikes stood out to me as singularly grotesque save for deaths written by Poe himself, and I greatly applaud Charles Dickens for his spectacular writing in these two instances specifically.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional sad 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: Complicated
adventurous emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
slow-paced