A review by morgabby
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

dark informative mysterious reflective 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

4.75

From the start I really loved this book. Wilde’s way of describing things with his poetical flow was beautiful. It was intriguing ever since Basil described his infatuation with a gorgeous man named Dorian Gray. Lord Henry was quite an interesting character, despite his evil and hedonistic dialogues.

There were few flaws that I disliked in this book: some of the conversations during tea parties or lunches were boringly long, and the whole chapter of Dorian developing multiple hobbies over a time lapse of a few years was hard for me to get through—I just found it uninteresting and wanted to get back to the main plot. I also wanted more insight of the beginning of Dorian’s corruption.

But overall the story was so mysterious and quite a few chapters kept me on the edge of my chair with my eyes widening of interest and tension.

I SO wanted the end of the book to be James murdering Dorian a dramatic and vengeful death, and got so excited when he finally found Dorian and almost killed him. But I found it even more unfortunately fascinating that James was fooled by his youth, and that Dorian got away with it all. I was upset when James died the way he did, though.

BASIL DESERVED BETTER!! AND SO DID SYBIL VANE!!!

I like to believe that Dorian was more than just a muse to Basil. After Basil’s confession of complete adoration of the man, page 113 ends with “There seemed to be something tragic in a friendship so colored by romance.” If that isn’t hinting enough, I don’t know what is.


The ending of the book was a little anticlimactic, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Will definitely reread again 👍🏻👍🏻

Movie review:  I just watched the 2009 movie and omg??? Certainly worth a watch if you enjoyed the book. Some things happen differently, but does not stray from the original story too much. Some of the scenes were very um graphic lol so that added much flavor to the story as well, just dont be in the room with your family. I love the added details that gave more backstory to Dorian’s father. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings