Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Fellowship of the Ring

not much to say about Fellowship that hasn't already been said, but as for this edition: Actually it was really quite good! Serkis does great character voices as expected and has a lovely storytelling cadence. I just wish he'd done all the songs justice. Some of them he does render beautifully but it's uneven, with others (especially Tom Bombadil's) being extremely grating

Content Warnings

parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous inspiring slow-paced

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

4.0

this is an absolute classic of high fantasy with (imo) a very engaging look into its deep, DEEP lore, but the long, flower descriptions are certainly not for everyone, and it is very traditional in its values and the diversity on offer. Very much not a modern book by modern standards. The cast is majority male, birth and status is important, "Race" is important, and so on

Content Warnings

manu_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Beautifully written, but a little too slow for my tastes. Clearly all the braincells of the Fellowship are shared by Aragorn, Gandalf and Sam (sometimes borrowed by Legolas and Gimli). It's increasingly hilarious when Frodo attempts to use his non existent braincells, but a bit frustrating too, as the story is told mostly from his perspective.

Frodo is a frustrating protagonist, not because he is afraid of his Quest (which is natural), but because he lacks the charisma his uncle Bilbo had in The Hobbit, and is also unfortunately not very good at picking things up on the fly and adapting like Bilbo. He repeatedly takes action contrary to what Gandalf and Elrond have advised.

That is not to say that Frodo is a bad protagonist. In some instances, his cleverness and quick thinking do benefit his companions, and he (most of the time) has the good sense to follow Aragorn or Gandalf when he himself is in doubt. He respects and listens to the opinions and advise of creatures much older and experienced than him, but still has the common sense to not take their words as gospel. He has good friends who are willing to follow him into death on his Quest.

Its an amazing book, deserving of its title of 'Classic', but maybe not exactly my cup of tea.

Content Warnings

kylieqrada's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging reflective 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

My gut says 3 ⭐️s so I am listening to her. I HAVE DONE IT. I HAVE DONE THE THING. This book has been on my TBR since at least 2014, realistically much longer. I listened to this on audio, since I could never seem to force my eyes to read it. It worked out well, although Rob Inglis singing to me will likely haunt my dreams for the foreseeable future. I didn't hate it. But I also knew all the plot beats from the movie, so who knows how I really feel about the book? I don't think I'm going to be continuing.

Content Warnings

bookish_bry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The Lord of the Rings is, of course, a classic. It's very well written and beautiful with a spectacular world. That being said, it's not really my type of book. I tend to lean more towards emotional and character driven stories which isn't always what we get in the Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings is more of an epic adventure than an emotional introspective story. I definitely did enjoy and appreciate it. I especially liked the way

Gandalf's "death" happens and the reactions to it. Really I liked a lot of the part where Gandalf was present, but unfortunately that was only the middle of the book.

Content Warnings