Reviews with content warning for Death - The Two Towers

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

43 reviews

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.

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hdoomk's review against another edition

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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

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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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.

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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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??

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