Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

30 reviews

novelyon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief, Infertility, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

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

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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

lillythebluepaladin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective 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

4.25

This was suuuuuuch a long, but exciting read!!
KEN FOLLETT SERIOUSLY KNOWS HOW TO WRITE TENSE AND EXCITING BOOKS!
My only criticism is probably how much "boobie" talk there was in it, that definetly made it clear that this was written by a middle aged man, BUT his female characters are most of the time greatly written, and the characters being all "booobiee, brrreastss, badonkas" were either extremely "thirsty" or disgusting misogynists, so it sense with their personalities and relationships, and we are talking about the middle ages, so I will let that slide.

Warning tho: This book is very graphic. The medieval ages were not fun to be in, and that is veeery reflected in this book. Check up on content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death, Antisemitism, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

ilishii's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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? No

3.0

I understand why people like this book and why it is a best seller. The pieces and parts of the story came together well, and once I finally got into the story I enjoyed parts of it and was on the edge of my seat for others.
That being said, I was listening to this on audiobook and I had to get 8 hours in before I felt any semblance of being invested in the story. If you struggle with slower-paced books you are going to struggle with this one. There are a lot of pages devoted to the description of buildings (I understand why, but did I enjoy it? No.) and the story is told from multiple points of view spanning decades.
I can overlook and even enjoy all of that, but what got to me and left a bad taste in my mouth was the use of rape as a plot device. It left a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of for the rest of the book. Please read the trigger warnings before you pick this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Animal cruelty

mjkienbaum's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

Minor: Sexism and Antisemitism

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. 

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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

meganpbennett's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

Pillars of the Earth is far more engaging and compelling than a book about building a cathedral has any right to be. It's a very hard read, as it is one disaster after another, but it's incredibly engaging, to the point that you don't want to put it down, because you have to know what happens next. And it's never good, what happens next. Characters have runs of good luck only to lose everything and have to start over. It has an oddly hopeful ending, and everything is neatly tied together and explained. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Animal cruelty, Gore, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Pregnancy, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Antisemitism, and Abandonment

ritacunha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

After reading all 1,075 pages, I can understand how Pillars of the Earth has grown to be such a cult classic. It’s full of twists and turns set against a stunning, dynamic Medieval background. 

The first pages suck you in immediately. I didn’t want to stop reading. The characters grab your heart and make you sit at the edge of your seat. 

However, I do feel like the book could have been shorter. 1,000+ pages is a lot. At times, the story lulled and felt like it repeated from the previous 300 or so pages. The climax, too, felt sort of disjointed. 

All that said, this was still an incredibly read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Violence, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

null's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I was recommended this book on the promise of intrigue, suspense, and complex storytelling. What I got was ecclesiastical bickering, bland descriptions of sex that often went on for multiple pages, and multiple unnecessary rape scenes. Do not bother with this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pedophilia and Islamophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty

mooncow's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity