Reviews

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

andrewfetz's review against another edition

5.0

Gollum is the best character in this series

wulfstanlee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-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

lnconclusive's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

dradininlove's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad

5.0

reedholmesa's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

aldora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

 There were some elements of this book that I preferred over the film, but ultimately the film is what I prefer overall. I enjoyed reading this, but it didn't quite give me the feels as much as Fellowship did, I think because it is the middle of the story, and I wasn't sure how much I liked the two main narratives being separated into the two halves of the book rather than mixed together like the film.

Some elements of the book that I preferred over the film were the depiction of Faramir, who was a lot nicer from the beginning and had more depth to his character, and the extra scenes with Treebeard and the Ents. Also the moment with Gollum in the small cave leading to Cirith Ungol when Sam and Frodo were sleeping.

However I was surprised to see that things like Helm's Deep came and went in a single chapter, and didn't feel quite as epic as the film, and the last half of the book being mainly the same three characters the entire time meant that it started to drag on a little bit for me in certain chapters.

My biggest surprise from this is that

Saruman isn't dead!? Now I'm going to be worried about where the hell he is going to turn up again now.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book greatly, but there were a few moments where I found myself looking ahead to see how long was left in a chapter, and I wasn't really a fan of the split narratives being separated into Book 3 and Book 4 respectively, because then it felt like most of the action was over in the first half.

(Read alongside the 'But Are There Dragons' podcast.) 

catmom21's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

cmarciano56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

adri999's review against another edition

reflective relaxing fast-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

captaincrash's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5