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gvstyris's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
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
4.0
And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.
I was surprised by how nostalgic I felt reading this first LOTR volume, which I’ve never read before — the ‘epic’ sense of adventure reminded me a little of reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter as a child.
I’m rooting for Aragorn and Sam, always <3 (but can’t believe Arwen is so much less present here than the films!)
But yeah, if we’re being honest, there’s a lot of slightly dull walking around various parts of the wilderness that require patience to get through.
Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
aceofsphades_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Grief
Moderate: War, Animal death, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
ethuiliel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Stalking, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
mossss123's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Going into this book, I had heard how horrible the pacing was. Actually, reading it, I was pleasantly surprised at how fast everything actually moved. The large cast of characters sometimes was too much, and I forgot that some existed at times, but by the end, they were all fleshed out and interesting. It was a bit of a hard read with outdated language and hard to interpret sentences, but very rewarding. The main two issues were the overuse of song and the unfortunate descriptions of non-white characters. Overall, it was very engaging despite what I had been told and a great improvement on the Hobbit. I was surprised at the great use of horror when describing Gollum, the Black Riders, and the Watcher, especially for a non-horror centric story. Tolkien’s clear hatred of industrialism and love of nature is evident throughout with his reverence for the trees echoing through every description of them, and are there many of them. The queerness of Frodo and Sam’s relationship is also very intriguing, and I can’t wait for that to develop when I read the other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
bearystarry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Sam and Frodo 🩷 I really love being on an adventure with all of these characters. I do wish Arwen specifically was as involved as she is in the movies…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Racism, Death, War, and Xenophobia
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Xenophobia
Minor: War, Torture, and Alcohol
i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A very enjoyable read. A fun, classic, adventure. There is quite a bit of info-dumping and the reading is dense, but the overall experience is great
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
mnatale100's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, and Xenophobia
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Alcohol
parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
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
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death and War
Minor: Alcohol, Xenophobia, and Blood
kylieqrada's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, and Confinement