Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Watership Down by Richard Adams

49 reviews

janneke2302's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was hesitant to read this book at first, because it's very different from what I usually read, but I ended up really enjoying it. There were some slow parts that were a bit tough to get through, especially the chapters where they told each other stories, but other than those parts it was a really fun heartwarming and adventurous story.

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense

3.75


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egg_cup's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted relaxing tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

hard to describe the fierce love I have for this book - I already loved the film but there's something about the way Richard Adams draws on the real life behaviour of rabbits to inform the behaviour of the characters in his story that gives an element of authenticity and believability to the rabbits in the book. This is one of my new favourite books of all time and it's taking everything in me to not turn right back to the first page and start the whole journey over again.

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-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? No

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Beloved as a classic children’s story, Watership Down is the tale of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and their friends, a group of rabbits who face relocation, danger, and adventure together on the quest to find and build a new home for themselves.

I was a huge fan of the Warriors series growing up, and this book gave me very similar vibes, only with rabbits rather than cats, so the nostalgia feeling that this book generated was a lot of fun. I loved the adventure and action (which picked up significantly towards the second half) and all the different rabbit characters were a delight. I did feel like the book could have been about a hundred pages shorter, but I also appreciated the world-building Adams engaged in, as well as the inclusion of rabbit folklore and mythology. While I wasn’t totally enthralled (a lot of sections dragged on and the beginning was pretty slow), I definitely understand why this one is so loved by so many readers over the years.

As an added bonus, with bunnies and outdoorsy vibes, this was the perfect springtime/Easter read!

Recommended if you like: classics; stories about animals; children’s literature.

CW: Animal injury/death/blood; violence.

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hydro_homie's review against another edition

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

5.0


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saffire_sky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0


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hoggboss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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hopeful tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Oof I FINALLY got through this. Possibly an unpopular opinion, but I greatly disliked this book. I think the main reason people sing its praises is out of nostalgia for when they read it as a kid. It was SO BORING. I gave up on the audiobook quickly, finding it too hard to keep track of the characters and the rabbit language, but then I spent 6 long weeks slogging through the ebook. It just put me to sleep! I’m not a super fast reader, but if something takes me that long, it’s a bad sign. I finally moved back to audiobook for the last half, once I had a handle on the characters and Adams’ writing style. I guess I did care about the characters, but that’s not really a testament to good writing. I care about all animal characters, even unnamed ones. I guess I could find some hint of interest by framing the different warrens as different types of government (Cowslip’s warren = socialism, Efrara = fascism), like a super subtle Animal Farm, but that only held my attention for so long. I know life is short and I should have DNF-ed it, but I’m a completionist. SO glad this one is over though. Apologies if I’ve just hated on your beloved childhood tale, but I stand by my assessment. This was a snooze fest.

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justanotherayesha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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