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devermismysteris's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-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
Moderate: Gore
kimminy's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This is a great concept, but… It never felt connected to Beowulf. The language was all wrong, too modern. There was too much philosophy and politics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Cursing
thefairfae's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3/5
⚠️CW/TW: Murder, Gore, and Death⚠️
I didn't have high hope going into this book because I wasn't the biggest fan of Beowulf but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I really liked seeing the progression of Grendel's personality and morals throughout it. This book kind of makes you sympathize with him but also makes you not like him at the same time. This book was also one of the first times I had ever annotated a book so as I was doing it I noticed alot of symbolism in the book and it was nice to see all of this compare to the Beowulf poem. I really like how it went more in depth with some of the other characters like Grendel's mom and the Dragon. I really ended up loving the Dragon even more than I did in the poem. I really enjoyed his chapter. I do want to say though there were a couple of chapters in this book I couldn't stand. One of them I didn't even completely finish because I just didn't like it all. Besides those few two chapters I did enjoy this book. It exceeded my expectations.
⚠️CW/TW: Murder, Gore, and Death⚠️
I didn't have high hope going into this book because I wasn't the biggest fan of Beowulf but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I really liked seeing the progression of Grendel's personality and morals throughout it. This book kind of makes you sympathize with him but also makes you not like him at the same time. This book was also one of the first times I had ever annotated a book so as I was doing it I noticed alot of symbolism in the book and it was nice to see all of this compare to the Beowulf poem. I really like how it went more in depth with some of the other characters like Grendel's mom and the Dragon. I really ended up loving the Dragon even more than I did in the poem. I really enjoyed his chapter. I do want to say though there were a couple of chapters in this book I couldn't stand. One of them I didn't even completely finish because I just didn't like it all. Besides those few two chapters I did enjoy this book. It exceeded my expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Gore
teardropsonmypaperback's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Gore
singlier's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Grendel by John Gardener 4/5
A short, wonderfully weird interpretation of the monster Grendel from the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Looking back on this book, I DID enjoy it, but reading it is a slog at times, due to the rambling nature of the narrative. It attempts to be contemporary and deep by analyzing modern structures of power as they compare to feudal ones, as well as including a smattering of modern slang, but hearing an ancient dragon say "Fiddlesticks" did take me out of the narrative a bit. I loved the descriptions, the kennings, and the political drama, but I'm also a lover of the source material.
A short, wonderfully weird interpretation of the monster Grendel from the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Looking back on this book, I DID enjoy it, but reading it is a slog at times, due to the rambling nature of the narrative. It attempts to be contemporary and deep by analyzing modern structures of power as they compare to feudal ones, as well as including a smattering of modern slang, but hearing an ancient dragon say "Fiddlesticks" did take me out of the narrative a bit. I loved the descriptions, the kennings, and the political drama, but I'm also a lover of the source material.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Blood
eemil's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Sexual violence
seanml's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Poor Grendel’s life is full of accidents, the Dragon is the BBEG, the Shaper could say all this better.
Highlights: The strange warbling descriptions by Grendel.
Recommended for: Fans of the writing style of The Last Unicorn, and of course people who liked Beowulf.
Highlights: The strange warbling descriptions by Grendel.
Recommended for: Fans of the writing style of The Last Unicorn, and of course people who liked Beowulf.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Animal death
Moderate: Murder and Blood
Minor: Sexual violence
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