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A review by rey0
Watership Down by Richard Adams
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I. Loved. This. Book. I'd heard that it was about rabbits banding together and having to fight for their survival, and being a long-time lover of the Warrior Cats books, I knew that I would like it.
On the surface, it's about a group of rabbits who build a new forever-home for the fear that their current home will be destroyed. I feel like the joy of freedom is an important theme (if you would call it that) as the rabbits quite literally put their lives on the line for it in multiple instances.
Adams does a great job of shrinking us down and forcing us to look at the hardships of a rabbit-- a wade through a small river is not a problem for a human that's at least 5ft tall, but for a small little rabbit it's really a huge obstacle. Most characters have their own strengths and weaknesses and are interesting in their own ways, even the antagonist. The ending feels nice and conclusive, I teared up a little and felt incredibly proud of the characters.
The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the initial (albeit minor) struggle to understand what I was reading, as Adams' style of writing is not what I usually read, and he introduced a lot of rabbit lingo that I didn't understand, but it didn't take long to get used to it. I also wasn't a fan of how long and frequent the stories of rabbit folklore were because it just kinda seemed like each tale was giving the same message of rabbits being clever?
All in all, it's a good read, and genuinely gripping at some parts. The violence isn't all too descriptive but there are definitely some rabbit deaths, fighting, and bloodshed.
On the surface, it's about a group of rabbits who build a new forever-home for the fear that their current home will be destroyed. I feel like the joy of freedom is an important theme (if you would call it that) as the rabbits quite literally put their lives on the line for it in multiple instances.
Adams does a great job of shrinking us down and forcing us to look at the hardships of a rabbit-- a wade through a small river is not a problem for a human that's at least 5ft tall, but for a small little rabbit it's really a huge obstacle. Most characters have their own strengths and weaknesses and are interesting in their own ways, even the antagonist. The ending feels nice and conclusive, I teared up a little and felt incredibly proud of the characters.
The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the initial (albeit minor) struggle to understand what I was reading, as Adams' style of writing is not what I usually read, and he introduced a lot of rabbit lingo that I didn't understand, but it didn't take long to get used to it. I also wasn't a fan of how long and frequent the stories of rabbit folklore were because it just kinda seemed like each tale was giving the same message of rabbits being clever?
All in all, it's a good read, and genuinely gripping at some parts. The violence isn't all too descriptive but there are definitely some rabbit deaths, fighting, and bloodshed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Blood