Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

11 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Slavery, Racism, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, War, Mental illness, Misogyny, Ableism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Chronic illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer and Infertility

vixenreader's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Half of the book is more about atmosphere than plot. Be patient, because you will get a thrilling climax once you get over the hump and see how the author subverts Wells’ sci-fi classic in the best possible way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Slavery, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Gore

Minor: Drug use, Religious bigotry, War, Genocide, Dysphoria, Murder, and Chronic illness

Please remember to be aware of animal-human hybrids, death of a spouse, grief over a lost relationship, financial struggles, dehumanizations of slaves, attempted rape, animal violence, first sex experiences, narcissism, surrogacy, and experimentation on animals.

pvbobrien's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, War, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

aardwyrm's review

adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

There's a good novella in this book if you chopped out a lot of nothing. The premise is intriguing, the prose is good, and Carlota isn't a bad viewpoint character. But 2/3 of the pages are taken up by tedious romantic drama that goes nowhere and could have been set up in a chapter. Montgomery also sucks a lot of life out of the story. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has many strengths, but writing a compelling protagonist man is not one of them. The human-animal hybrids who should be the stars of the story are barely there, but in them there's the bones of something great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

kylieqrada's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

My first Silvia Moreno-Garcia and I loved it!! I got sick in the second half and I am so bummed cuz I would have liked to marathon it, but overall I really enjoyed it. Plus my copy is signed my SMG and I got some background at the event. 😍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual violence

cozyteareads's review

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, Racism, Blood, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Medical content

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts

jupitermond's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

kari_f's review

challenging informative mysterious 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

3.5

“Hers was the water and the black soil and the trees and those birds in flight not because she owned them but because they had each other."

This was an interesting reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau that incorporates historical events and cultural ideologies from late 1800s Mexico. 


💕Aspects I enjoyed: 💕

🐆 Much of the original premise is the same, where the doctor works on creating hybrid human + animal creatures. I love that we see some of them as primary characters! This allows us to examine what humanity really means, comparing the humanity of the hybrids against that of the humans.

🐕 There is a unique take on found family, and this is built upon throughout the novel.

🐐 There are multiple themes explored, including colonialism, gender stereotypes, racial inequality, and ethics in scientific experimentation.

🐆 The book steered away from some of the tropes I expected it to embrace, which was extremely refreshing!

🐕 The character depth and growth for the protagonist was wonderful to see as she grew in her own sense of justice and self-worth.


✨Some things I wished: ✨

🐐 I thought the book needed a bit more sci-fi material. For a story marketed as historical science fiction, I felt that it didn’t include much of the science. We come into the novel with the hybrids already in existence, and we don’t really learn much about the doctor’s theories or procedures. 

🐆 While we get some depth and growth from a few of the side characters, I wish we’d gotten more of their perspectives and growth. I especially wish we’d had more from the housekeeper who watched over the household and a few of the hybrids.


Overall I enjoyed the book! I’m glad I read it, but there was a bit of spark missing for me, so I don’t know that I’d read it again. I’ll definitely be checking out other books by the author, though, as I thought her ideas were unique and her writing was engaging!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

bkwrm1317's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

Moreno-Garcia does it again! First and foremost, big thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia herself (learned about this eARC on Twitter a number of months ago when she encouraged folks to read on NG) for early access by eARC for The Daughter of Doctor Moreau in exchange for an honest review! I've thoroughly enjoyed all other novels by Moreno-Garcia, and am thrilled to contribute to folks raving prior to release on this one with my first Moreno Garcia eARC.

Releasing later this month (July 2022), Moreno-Garcia graces readers once again with a historical SFF novel, this time set in the 1870's in Mexico. Based loosely on a reimagining of H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau, alongside an actual conflict that was happening in the Yucatán (México) in the 1870s called the Caste War of Yucatán, beginning in 1847 and lasting more than 50 years (see Afterword for more information), which resulted from the abusive labor system that discriminated against and indebted native Maya in the region. This likely isn't the right place for new readers of Moreno-Garcia looking for a faster-paced read (she's released other novels that fit a quicker pace), and isn't usually my first choice, but took my sweet time enjoying the read and the pacing doesn't detract, rather lends itself to the slow burn and build of the narrative.

With familiar tropes from Moreno-Garcia including enemies to lovers (sort of? with a twist?), the horror of racism and classism through a historical lens, and elements of sci-fi horror, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is another slow-building, slow-burn of fabulous quality by one of my contemporary favorites. Do see CWs on this one, as there are elements as relate to the status of femmes during this time period, as well as relate to differences of class/caste that include emotional manipulation, gaslighting, and the possibility of violence (including sexual), which could be troubling for some readers. These are moderate CWs at most from my read, and are incorporated in a way that focuses the reader on how the characters are/might/will fight back against this (sexual) violence and oppression in ways that are compelling and satisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, and Racism

Minor: Sexual violence