Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

15 reviews

irene_addler's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 "But there are times when the little cloud spreads, until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about me at my fellow men, and I go in fear."

On my journey through the classics of horror, I knew I would need to traverse The Island of Doctor Moreau. Despite getting fairly short, this story is quite the ride. 

We start by knowing how the story ends. While there's potential for that to ruin the story, this story is absolutely not made worse for it. In fact, watching how Prendick gets to the island and simply following the journey was wonderful. I believe that helps offset some of the harder moments in the book. No matter what, the reader always knows there is hope.  

I didn't find Prendick very likeable. He felt quick to judge others--though he is one of the most likeable characters in the book. However, most of his decisions make sense, and there are periods of humor in what could have been a horribly depressing book. 

The body horror in this story had me literally cringing, and I wouldn't say it was a particularly graphic book. It's one of those stories where what is not shown makes it all the worse. 

I think there's more in this story which could have been dug deeper into, but not every horror has to have deep discussions about morality--though that certainly is a topic. I'm also still confused as to why the experiments were happening. Moreau has a long monologue about it and perhaps the length made me glaze over and miss the point, but my understanding leaves me confused and thinking that his goals make no sense with his experiments. 

I listened to the audio book narrated by Jonathan Keeble, and I think he's a great at creating unique voices, but there were times I wasn't sure who was talking and sometimes it was a bit much for me, but given how picky I am with narrators and that I finished this book, I think he was definitely a solid narrator. I wouldn't seek a book out to listen to him specifically, but I would absolutely listen to him narrate a book again.

Overall, this is a great book for those who want to dive into classic horror, but I wouldn't say it's a must read for everyone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Gun violence, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Blood

fallknitt's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Racism, Medical content, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

apurpleyuan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

dustspectre's review

challenging dark reflective tense 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? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism

moreau's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

my favorite book ever. the language is hilarious, the characters are fucking amazing which is a first for hg wells, hell most of them even have names. he never names his characters or gives them any depth but these characters are actual people. still not fleshed out or anything but theyre there. prendick is boring and an average wells mc, has no opinions on anything. and Montgomery is kind of confusing, if you watch all the movie adaptations of this he's completely different in all of them yet all are somehow accurate to his book counterpart, but moreau is a solid character. hes just chill like that. love the pink sloth. this book completely changed the way i see the world, every biology class i have i mention it, everywhere i go theres a reference to it that goes over most people's heads and I'm like "oohh ohh i know that!!" (totally ruined the mighty boosh and the simpsons for me.) this book basically made me a furry because im so obsessed with if it could actually happen or not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Death, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt, Racism, Racial slurs, and Ableism

tungstenmouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book did not age well at all. Some of the attitudes presented are appalling by today’s standards. It’s also brutal and very dark. If you are very attached to animals you may have a very hard time with this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, and Racism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism

rory_john14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Medical trauma

jessthanthree's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Medical content

Minor: Racism

jbabbm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was better than I expected, and it's an easy to read classic. Wells decided to use the Island and its Beast Folk as a literary device to tackle various moral topics. I truly consider this a must read.

Also, this is classified as a children's book apparently but I honestly wouldn't read it to children below the age of 10 at least. It's not scary or gory, but I do think that it deals with complicated subjects that may prove too heavy/upsetting for a kid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence