Reviews

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

mdevlin923's review against another edition

4.0

London lawyer Mr. Utterson recounts the tale of his upstanding client Dr. Henry Jekyll and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde. When Dr. Jekyll makes a surprising change to his will that leaves all of his money to Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson begins investigating. He soon learns that Dr. Jekyll has created a concoction that turns him into Mr. Hyde...which allows him to engage in various vices without sullying the name of Jekyll. But the transformations soon take over Dr. Jekyll: Hyde's personality is too powerful for Jekyll and the concoction no longer works until Mr. Utterson finds Mr. Hyde dead in his laboratory.

kylenobles's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.25

cluttered_mind's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

angelicardale's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

interesting.....i liked the prose/the way everything was written but some of the content is questionable at best

sturmvoqel's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

 Charaktere (8/10):

- bis auf Dr. Jekyll bleiben alle Charaktere zweidimensional 
- Dr. Jekyll war dafür wirklich großartig beschrieben, besonders seinen letzten Brief fand ich sehr eindrucksvoll und packend

Atmosphäre (7/10):

- zu Beginn wusste ich manchmal nicht wo sich die Akteure gerade befinden, ich kenne mich allerdings auch nicht mit den Stadtteilen von London aus und habe das Setting erst nach Recherchen besser verstanden

Schreibstil (8/10):

- anfangs etwas verwirrend, ich konnte dem Geschehen manchmal nicht richtig folgen und verwechselte die Namen

Handlung: (8/10):

- wie bereit erwähnt fehlte mir zu Beginn der Geschichte der Zugang, später nahm die Handlung an Fahrt auf, das letzte Drittel hat mir am besten gefallen

Logik (9/10):

Unterhaltungsfaktor (8/10):

- die erste Hälfte fand ich etwas zäh, die zweite dafür umso besser, besonders das letzte Drittel
- ich habe die Novelle als Hörbuch gehört und die Stimme von David Nathan hat positiv zum Gesamteindruck beigetragen

--> 58/70 Punkte 

bookish_5280's review

4.75

The main story itself deserves far higher than a five star rating, but I brought to total stars down just because I didn't love the other stories in the collection as much (I did, of course, love the style and just how bizarre and horrifying they all were :))

tregina's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of those stories that everyone thinks they know, but fewer people have actually read. It has to have been at least twenty years since I last read this, and there are a lot of details I'd forgotten myself; chief among them that, as the title actually suggests, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the subject of the book, not the protagonists. We don't get Dr. Jekyll's point of view on his horrific transformations until the end. There are also the repeated assertions that deformed = evil, and a racial slant to Mr. Hyde's appearance as contrasted with the 'good' Dr. Jekyll, typical for the era but no less uncomfortable for that.

Overall it is stronger on ideas than on actual story, but it does project a genuine sense of horror and peril that is often missing from people's more comedic or exaggerated interpretations of the dual nature of man.

sophia_med's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

catalinaxxxx's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

beachybookstack's review against another edition

3.0

I was surprised by just how short this story is---and the fact that the author of Treasure Island wrote it. Should've known that! Oh well, it was alright to listen to as an audiobook only because I knew the secret of his identities beforehand. Though that was sort of frustrating, it was likely a great reveal to readers when it was newly printed.

LibriVox, narrated by David Barnes - https://librivox.app/book/417