Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

14 reviews

meat_muffin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

Wow, not gonna lie, this book was PAINFULLY slow and boring. Sure, the prose was pretty, but nothing??? happened??? for the first HALF of the book! I was just waiting for plot! Overrated, not gonna lie

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Gun violence, Slavery, Ableism, Classism, Murder, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, War, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Confinement and Pregnancy

someryarns's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Alcoholism, Medical content, Confinement, Slavery, Violence, Chronic illness, Gore, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Murder, and Xenophobia

jgalla's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Colonisation

Moderate: Classism, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Violence, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Slavery

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Rape

alicelalicon's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Sexism

Moderate: Slavery, Death of parent, Child death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Classism, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

javafenn's review

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I would have finished this book much, much, much sooner if I hadn’t been dealing with health issues and small children. I have never read The Island of Doctor Moreau but I love that Silvia Moreno-Garcia took one genre and story then created a whole new story with a beautiful blend of genres. She’s excellent at creating these unique stories with a familiar feel to them. The book tells the story of a young girl who helps her father with his scientific studies without knowing all that he is truly doing as well as that of a young man who comes into the doctor and his daughter’s life when she was but a girl. Each does as the doctor’s tells them until one day it all comes to a very catastrophic head. All set in Mexico, Carlotta, Montgomery, and the hybrids must figure not only who they are but also what.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, and Sexism

seawarrior's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is for people who enjoy meandering, atmospheric historical fiction, which is far from how I'd describe myself. I only got halfway through the book on my first attempt, yet thankfully I'd reached the quicker part of the story when I returned to finish it months later. While I'd hoped this story would focus on Carlota's relationship to the hybrids, most of the narrative was dedicated to a tense will-they-won't-they relationship between her and an inappropriately older man. This story obviously ties into the history of Spanish colonialism, yet that theme was not layered for me to give it much praise. The writing style itself was decent, though much of the dialogue felt stiff. I was disappointed to find that this story is more of a slow-paced and tragic historical romance that anything else. If you expected a science fiction or political thriller, this is not the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

w33nr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Racism

hanz's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Minor: Colonisation

mandysreadinglist's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 Set in the Mexican Yucatán, this is a story about a mad scientist, his human-hybrid creations, and his insidious intentions. It is also an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, but with a fresh feminist perspective.

Doctor Moreau is a man of science and a purported man of God. Ironically, and hypocritically, though, he uses scientific experiments to play god over his creations, animal-human hybrids who he and his patron hope to use for slave labor. When the doctors daughter Carlotta starts asking questions about the world she has always known, she discovers a tangled web of secrets and lies—and must decide which side she wants to be on.

In SMG style, this story is oozing with gothic language, vintage fashion, complex characters, fast-paced action, and sizzling romance.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my auto-buy authors because everything she writes is golden. She uses beautiful images and paints stunning magical settings just with a few words. I love her style, and The Daughter of Dr. Moreau is as good as Moreno-Garcia’s previous works. This is yet another great and amazing tale from one of the greatest storytellers of our Generation.

Thank you to Netgalley for gifting me an eARC of this title. All opinions are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I just kept assuming this was going to be a prequel to The Island, up until that became impossible. I wonder how my impression of the book would differ if I hadn't been working off that frame work for 90% of it.

I really enjoyed this overall, though perhaps a bit less than Mexican Gothic. It's hard to elaborate on why - the characters and their conflicts were all very believable, but I think there were simply too many of them, and some of the story seemed to drag out a bit too long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and War

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy