Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

6 reviews

basbleu_dans_labiblioteque's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

im a huge fan of historical fiction, especially medieval historical fiction. I was really excited for this book, because it was in a setting I find fascinating and was clearly accurate and well-researched, but this guy did not pull it off. Some of the book was boring, and there was quite a bit that was downright painful to read.

Also, that bearbaiting scene absolutely did not need to take around 5 pages!

I couldn’t care about any of the characters, and the book was so. Repetitive.

The “good guys”(Aliena, Jack, Phillip, etc.) would do something good, Waleran Bigod would make a plan, Hamleigh would show up, murder some people and rape somebody, and we’d be back to the beginning.

For 975 pages. All in all, I ended up reading it out of obligation: I felt like I was already into it so I might as well finish.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Classism, and Gore

aether_seawo1f's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Glacial pacing for the first 600 pages, the last 400 are decent. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War

schnarlie's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Torture, Murder, Misogyny, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Slavery, Pregnancy, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism, War, Abandonment, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Infertility

marcery199's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

An absolute unit of a book about a church. Characters come in, live, grow, die, thrive, and fail. But the book moves ever forward. A book that constantly reminds you of violent history and brutal people, but also of love, and a goddamn church that serves as a through line to it all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

dreusmire's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

4.25

This fucking book was so hard to get through when I read it as a 13 year old. It consumed my entire life. And then I read it again for some reason. Deeply satisfactory, I cried

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Gaslighting, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Ableism, Abandonment, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

seanml's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.25

It can be hard to tell the difference between an author’s thoughts and a character’s thoughts. I’m still not entirely sure when a hypersexual thought came from Follett or when it came from 

Tom, or William

. The first half of this book had me unsure, reading through the atrocities of 

William Hamleigh

  in graphic detail, and the sexual emphasis placed on 

Ellen.

  However, by the second half it had gone above and beyond. I’m sure it isn’t perfect, but it is a monumental effort and execution. 8.5/10. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, and Self harm