Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

18 reviews

karlin0336's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is five stars, but that means something completely different than when I rate other books five stars.
  I was not engrossed in it the whole time (I really had to push through parts of it).  I did not love many of the characters (there were so many names, that it was really hard to keep track of everyone).  It was confusing and very, VERY slow (thank goodness for the audiobook).
  No, the reason this book is five stars is because of what it accomplishes.  It sets the groundwork for the fantasy epic that is arguably the greatest cornerstone of its genre.  It gives us a comprehensive history for perhaps the most well-crafted fantasy universe of all time (and it's one of the reasons that universe is so well developed).  The Silmarillion was confusing, yes, but that's because it is a story on such a large scale that a single readthrough just isn't enough.  I fully expect to discover something new each and every time I reread it.  What this book manages to accomplish is pure genius.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Incest, Suicide, and Grief

bone_dry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Incest, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

josisteacup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

4.0

Given that it's basically a "history book" that chronicals the events from the creation of Middle-earth up until the end of Lord of the Rings its expected to be quite dense. Therefore its best to approach it like a collection of myths or folktales and read one chapter at a time. Otherwise it might be overwhelming. Especially the first chapters about the creation of Middle-earth can be a bit boring because there isn't much plot.

All in all its interesting and I'm thinking about getting the standalone stories of Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin and The Children of Hurin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Slavery, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

pretzemilia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Torture, War, and Injury/Injury detail

godraed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

It's a work that defies description, a collection of various stories presented as the mythic history of Middle-Earth. It's grand in scope, magisterial in prose, an a marvel to behold. It is Tolkien's darkest work but also contains wonderful pieces of hope that set the stage for his later works. A must-read for any fan of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

This review is for the hardcover edition, which has two maps and contains illustrations from the author. It is an absolutely beautiful edition and looks wonderful on the bookshelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Incest, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Deportation

jakepasseri's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

While the prose can be almost biblical and dense, leading to a tough reading experience initially, push past it and youll genuinely find both some of the greatest writing and stories written. Truly a masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Suicide, Torture, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Incest, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Incest, Racism, Slavery, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

pejms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Emotional abuse, Incest, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

This recounts the history of an entire fantasy world, and all the hardships that its people go through. There is a lot that happens, a whole lot.

aisabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation