Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Tale Of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities has a slow start and a tendency to flag between scenes set in France. per usual with Dickens, the colorful cast of characters make wading through a slow plot and dense language worth it.

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angiepearl's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Until I read this book, I could speak lightly of the French Revolution and “la guillotine,” but no more. Its horrors feel much too real now, and closer in the best way.

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your life. This is book twenty-five on the poster. As with most classics, I kind of struggled with this, but I understood the storyline this time.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. These are the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, becomes enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

I enjoyed how this book was split into three stories with one side being in France, one being in England and then book three being where all hell breaks loose. I enjoyed the humour and the side characters within this book. They were all so interesting and managed to keep me hooked. Even though it’s got a lot of dark themes, I was also intrigued into the mystery whether the characters were going to survive. The character development between the main characters was another strong point, I went from questioning if these two were even going to be able to get out of the town and by the end they were so badass. I have read two books from Charles Dickens, he seems to have this way of making a journey from start to finish, there was no questions for me to ask, everything was wrapped up in a bow.

Even though this book was under 300 pages, it felt like it was 900 pages. I am going to assume it’s because of the language and the classic feel to it, but it felt like pulling teeth to get this book finished. Plus, with the obvious political tone and the representation of all female characters being in the kitchen or just staying at home, was driving me nuts but again it was the time when the book was written.

Overall, I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did due to how I do with classics, however I'm not going to have my hopes up because the next one on the list is Crime and Punishment.

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justinenoon82's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Despite its literary merits, the complexity of the story and writing style can make it challenging to fully engage with in audiobook format.

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philosopher_kj's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad slow-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? N/A

3.5

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shakgraph's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was slow paced, which is not the pace that I prefer to read at. I remember liking it in high, so I kept reading. Even though the writing is slow, I appreciated the good writing- the figurative language. I also wanted to know the answer to the mystery of the doctor's past. A lot of sad moments. Horrible moments too. This is a good book to learn the horrors and inefficiency of vengeance from the uprising of any group of people to just have a different set of folks abusing power. Both parties were wrong. The hope is in eternity with Jesus.

The character development of Sydney Carton and Mr. Cruncher were the best parts of the book. Sydney Carton was the character I sympathized with from the start and liked (besides Mr. Lorry and, eventually, Miss Pross). I don't exactly remember where the moment happens, but Carton accepts Jesus and repeats John 11:25 leading up to his death and it is powerful and the truth "...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die,he shall live." I mean- WOW. And you see that the Holy Spirit transforms Carton in that he doesn't get drunk at the end of his life. I was moved by Mr. Cruncher's come to Jesus moment. At the beginning of this book Mr. Cruncher would demand that his wife not pray for him, in fear that she would ruin his "honest" work as a grave robber. He would tell his young son to stop her everytime she prayed(he would say flopped. Lol)to God too. He was such a bad example to his son and a horrible husband. At the end of the book he represents from his sin and tells Miss Pross to tell his wife that she can flop(pray) whenever she wished. The most heart breaking part of the book was what Therese's family and the doctor went through- bone-chilling. Also, the epilogue is fantastic. I like that you hear from Sydney Carton's view in heaven. The last sentence ,my goodness, is so satisfying.

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