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musicalpopcorn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had higher hopes for this story, but in the end I found it somewhat bland and predictable. While it was fast-paced, the story wasn’t anything groundbreaking. It was an enjoyable read, but nothing special.
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
maebemerissa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I LOVE Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia, so when I read the premise of this book I was excited to read something in the same vein. This was not it for me, because the book felt pretty predictable. Dr. Moreau is a wanna be cult leader (an unsuccessful one), and he justifies his actions by saying he's trying to help cure diseases. He is clearly just trying to play God (think Victor Frankenstein if he didn't learn his lesson the first time around). Moreau tries really hard to keep his daughter in line (Carlota), and she stays blindly loyal to him to a very frustrating degree. All the characters seemed really flat to me, and there was a huge lack of character development. There is a bit of a love triangle, but the "love interest," is clearly a fuckboy, and the other love interest is...flawed. I was not feeling the romance. Definitely my least favorite book from this author, but not every book is going to be a win. 🧬👨🔬🧌
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Slavery, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
lady_valhella's review
- 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? No
3.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Racism, and Slavery
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.25
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
meat_muffin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
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
vixenreader's review
- 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
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.trips's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What could have a been an interesting retelling of HG Wells Classic that explored interesting power dynamics, to me was a very slow experience that wasn't by any means a bad time, but it also wasn't a very good time either. I appreciated the sci-fi story with the historical Mexican background, in fact that is my favorite aspect of this entire book.
What I didn't like is that Carlota and Montgomery get fleshed out in boring internal monologues that are too lengthy and do nothing for the overall story. Sadly this book could've been a novella and would've had the same impact I think...
But it wasn't BAD by any means, the author is clearly a talented writer. There just wasn't really a ton of tension until the last 25% of the book and by that point I was just...very bored. Sadly disappointing.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty
moreau's review
- 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
3.0
I think this book was ruined for me because I'm too big a fan of the original book, I honestly think it's a safe bet to say I'm the biggest Island of Dr Moreau fan alive today. On it's own, this book is really good but I can't help being annoyed by the fact it's different to how I interpreted Wells's novel. First of all, why is Montgomery straight? Even Moreau being married at one point changes his character a lot but I can live with that, Montgomery seems so queercoded to me that it felt weird hearing him crush on Carlota and talk about Fanny. I also don't get his last name being Laughton? Charles Laughton plays Moreau in the 1932 film, so I assume it's in homage to that, and Montgomery's actor did have an atrocious name (Hohl) but Val Kilmer also played him and Kilmer is a cool ass name, I think I've always just imagined Montgomery's name to be.. Montgomery Montgomery. I really liked Montgomery and Moreau's characters in this, they're reminiscent of the original characters while having their own depths and charms. I also really loved the Mexican cultural aspect of this book, I found it very interesting and added to the story. I wonder if Carlota's name is a reference to Lota, the panther woman in the 1932 film, if so that's really cool. I found this book severely lacking in the actual hybrid aspect, the hybrids aren't as animalistic as I think they should be. There's no M'Ling too, he's my favourite hybrid. But yeah, the hybrids just felt like more people. They don't have their finger classing, they don't have the law, the House of Pain does appear but not very much.. it just felt so lacking. How do the hybrids act so civilized when they don't even have The Law? You could get rid of every aspect of this book relating it to Dr Moreau and it wouldn't be that different. I did like Carlota becoming most beastly as the book goes on, I'm a sucker for female rage portrayed by being a cat girl. This just felt more like Cat People than Dr Moreau honestly, if it'd focused more on the sci-fi and horror aspect I'd have been more into it. I also hope Eduardo isn't supposed to be Edward because Eduardo sucks. Also also Moreau dying at the end threw me off, I think it's really interesting in the original book how long it goes on after him and Montgomery die, you get to see Edward and the beast people deal with it and it's rather deep. But yeah, if you aren't as autistic about Moreau as me this is good.
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Body horror and Pregnancy
sshabein's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
bubblegirl858's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism