Reviews

Grendel by John Gardner

morganzayet's review

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alle_kat97's review

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dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

kaylabigham's review

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

2.0

ravengrimsbane's review against another edition

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4.0

A retelling of Beowulf from the POV of the monster, Grendel. As usually happens when you switch POV like this, you find reasons to feel sympathy for Grendel, who now feels like someone who just needed a friend. I may have to revisit Heaney’s translation, as it has been a while, but aside from flopping POVs, I’m pretty sure the author was faithful to the source.

abaughn's review

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

fishface's review

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challenging dark reflective fast-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

4.5

Having finally allowed myself to read this (I had wanted to get to Beowulf first) I honestly think it's all that it's cracked up to be. I in particular loved the way that the dragon was portrayed.

isaiahjcam's review

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dark reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

possumghost's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No

2.75

aster_isk_m's review

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dark reflective
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0

em14randa's review

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2.0

this is the most confusing book i’ve ever read