Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Invisible Man

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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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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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

3.5

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pigeonpersona's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was overall an enjoyable read, and I'm glad I picked it up. But the plot was a bit basic, as were the characters. The writing style was enjoyable.

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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dark fast-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

5.0

One thing I always really enjoy about H G Wells is that he tries really hard to explain the science in his science fiction novels. It's like you can see where the idea came from after he learned some scientific fact.

Also as a kid sometimes you would be asked "if you could have any superpower what would it be?" And I often chose invisibility but not bc I wanted to terrorize ppl like this guy, I just wanted to be left alone 😂

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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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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