Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

6 reviews

incendiofawkes's review against another edition

Characters are one dimensional and the portrayal of women sucks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Sexism, Rape, and Stalking

cheazcakeguy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I only finished this because I read it for a book club. Way too much unnecessarily explicit SA & pedophilia (just because it's "historically accurate" does not mean I want to read full details of a 14-year-old being r*ped by someone twice her age), characters were mostly one dimensional and often more like caricatures, and the pacing was uneven. The plot and the character Philip were the only things keeping me going, as it is ultimately a good story. The descriptions of the cathedral and the building process were also great. However, all of the tension and story beats ended up feeling super repetitive and recycled, and for the last couple hundred pages I was rolling my eyes at the dramatic twists and turns which felt contrived and meaningless at that point. I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it was unremarkable. Hard to recommend, unless you like to read soap operas with one-note characters and you're okay with repeated graphic SA. I suppose if you *really* like drama and architecture, and have extreme patience, this is the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: War and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, and War

sleeppyyhead's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Stalking

flowerowl's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Stalking, Alcohol, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Grief

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

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

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

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