Reviews with content warning for Violence - Watership Down

Growing up I had a love hate relationship with the 1978 movie; I would watch it every time I went to visit my grandma (which means I probably watched it at least 6 times a month) and each time I'd watch it I would terrify myself. But with that terror I was also in awe of the story and characters. When I was finally old enough to read the book for the first time, I feel like quite a lot of it went over my head.

I finally decided it was time for a reread after about ten years and I'm happy to report that Watership Down is still as enchanting, terrifying, and impactful as I had thought it was when I was younger. I actually have much more of an appreciation for the themes within the story now that I'm able to think more critically. Watership Down excels at presenting a believable story because of Richard Adam's determination to have the rabbits act as they would naturally (save for the speaking). Thus, the adventures the characters have mixed with the little bits of fiction and liberties taken doesn't come off as so farfetched.

Watership Down at its core is a tale of survival and overcoming one's fears. The characters overcoming all the obstacles and trials in their path (sometimes obstacles that are created by themselves), growing into themselves and finding who they are outside of their strict warren life is the major draw of the book for me.

The lore and world of the rabbits is equally compelling and some of my favorite moments have to be the stories that Dandelion tells the rest about the Prince of Rabbit’s adventures and tricks.

It would be easy to dismiss Watership Down as a silly story about rabbits but that would be doing it a great disservice. This book is compelling and touching and is full of moments that had me holding my breath even though I knew the outcome.

Content Warnings

sweetslowreadin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

One of my favorite books from my childhood and I'm happy it's still a very good read all these years later
I will admit slow paced books are almost always a struggle for me so that's a negative but everything else is pretty good, though i think some of the slow pace has to do with the few story chapters in between the chapters with our main characters

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darkefyres's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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jaynekernodle's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I first read this book in fifth grade (really not sure how) and decided to read it again as it's one of the few I've thought about throughout my life since.
I really enjoyed the story as a whole - the world building is grand, the characters are worth rooting for, and the action really builds. I only have two complaints, one more so than the other. The first, and least annoying to me personally, was that the action really picked up in the second half; so much so that it almost felt like two different story paces. The second, and more frustrating for me, was that there were often long passages that droned on with excessive detail about the setting. As someone who has a hard time picturing things in my head as they are exactly described, I prefer vivid imagery that still leaves much to the imagination. Richard Adams tends to over describe with so much detail that it becomes convoluted and I lose the image trying to follow the words. I tended to glaze over those passages, which could often be at least a page long.

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