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madeline_p4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death
shay43geek's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Death and Toxic relationship
hjb_128's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
ethuiliel's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, and Abandonment
grp101's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
As with all Tolkien stories, it can really linger at parts, but it’s great overall. Gollum’s arc is way more subtle in the book, and there are parts where you do feel really bad for him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Minor: Vomit
annapox's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and War
Minor: Animal death, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
gvstyris's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I wonder if people will ever say, "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring." And they'll say, "Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?" "Yes, m'boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.”
Definitely a tougher read than Fellowship, primarily because of long passages with little action. Tolkien’s nature descriptions remain beautiful, though, and I really enjoyed learning about Rohan. The last chapter in particular was such a highlight — I have a newfound appreciation for Sam from the novels.
Honestly, from a reader’s POV, I would argue that this volume in particular is hindered by its structure: Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli follow a relatively archetypical adventure arc in Towers, which is definitely more ‘engaging’ than Sam/Frodo’s emotional journey. The adaptation is pretty aware of this juxtaposition and wisely changed the sequencing.
Also, side note, but I was surprised to find this Treebeard much more endearing (and bearable 😭) than his film counterpart. Same goes for Pippin and Merry, Peter Jackson really did them dirty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
hdoomk's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Andy Serkis does an amazing job narrating this series, as always. This book continues to follow the trend of Tolkien’s amazing world building. While some feel like they play on some questionable stereotypes, overall I personally didn’t feel like they ruined the books. Tolkien did a great job establishing tension that suited his story. Furthermore all the characters felt consistent and like complex characters.
My only issue with the book is fairly minor and just has to do with some difficultly keeping track of the timeline. Outside of that it was an excellent read and I really enjoyed it. Listening to these again really reminded me why I fell in love with these books in middle school.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Theres this giant ass spider who been around like since the birth of time basically and ur telling me no one has every stabbed it even a little bit before??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail