Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Der Glöckner von Notre-Dame by Friedrich Bremer, Victor Hugo

13 reviews

chiara_dose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Stalking, and Torture

Minor: Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

sarasreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I attempted to read this as a teenager and quit when I reached a point that was absolutely bogged down with architecture description. I don't judge younger me at all for quitting. It was so boring and had no bearing on the rest of the book at all. If you're into dozens of pages of description about 1400s Paris, boy do I have the book for you!

About halfway through it finally started picking up, and it became a mostly unputdownable book for me, which was a lovely surprise!

Other things that were a surprise:

1. Playwrite marries the prettiest girl in Paris, literally only cares about her goat and basically elopes with it by the end, leaving the 16 year old in the clutches of a total pedo. 
2. Phoebus was a bigger douchebag than Frollo, change my mind. At least Frollo was mildly conflicted. "Oh she's been charged for my murder but had nothing to do with the attack I'm still totally alive and well? Eh, let her hang I guess, not my problem." -Phoebus probably.
3. The battle scene in front of the Notre Dame was wild. Probably said "holy crap!" out loud like 7 times.
4. This book is a huge bummer. Towards the end you hope and hope, and then it guts you.

If the first half of the book was much shorter, it would be a 4-4.5 star read for me. I know he was trying to get people to care about older gothic architecture, and the churches specifically, which is probably why we still have the Notre Dame today. So good on him and all, but in the 21st century it's a total snooze fest lol

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Ableism

Moderate: Torture and Animal death

cambrand's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Hugo's "Notre-Dame de Paris" is the first French Romantic novel and a great representation of it. The original title represents the story better than "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", given the the cathedral is the real center point and symbol of his novel rather than Quasimodo. A great illustration of middle-ages France - its people, politics, religion, and architecture. If you're reading this book based on the Disney's movie, you might be disappointed. Knocking off a star because of the mixed narration in the book that shifts from novel to almost essay-like in some chapters.

I'm sorry to say Frollo is actually the most interesting character and Esmeralda is actually painfully boring and mildly infuriating. Phoebus isn't a knight in shining armor and Quasimodo is somehow both heroic and pathetic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Torture, Xenophobia, Death, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Ableism

masha__me's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Self harm, Stalking, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gore, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Infidelity

voyage_of_a_time_wanderer's review against another edition

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, and Torture

Minor: Stalking, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Torture

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment

laurenleigh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a SLOG. I thought it would be an interesting read while I was getting ready for our trip, but it took forever to get through. Normally Disney adaptations are watered down, but in this case, I think Disney actually did a good job of distilling and updating the text for a modern audience. Hugo is a great writer, but he’s a terrible editor. In addition to feeling bored often during this reading, I found myself very frustrated by Esmeralda’s portrayal, which was made even weaker with this audiobook narrator. As I kid, I loved the Disney Esmeralda’s spirit and independence, but that was often missing in the original text. I also hated how Quasimodo was framed, and Disney did a much better job in my memory of showing that disability or disfigurement does not make one less of a person. I suppose I should try and judge the text on its own merits outside of my childhood memories of the movie, but I can’t quite untangle my expectations from what I found in the novel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Torture

hot_water's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, and Body shaming

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, and Racism

Minor: Death

upthestairs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Death of parent, Gore, Classism, Blood, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

hattiefrankie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The relationships between the characters in this story evokes a strong empathy in the reader aswell as contempt. Hugo is the king of context and paints Paris in so much architectural, political and cultural detail that you can vividly picture the setting and time-period of this story. As a musician I found Quasimodo's connection with the cathedral bells heart-rending. Some contextual passages felt a little too slow-paced, but the storyline was so important and kept me engaged until the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Ableism and Stalking

Minor: Torture