Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

37 reviews

alice666's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

Wonderful, simply stunning. 

Charles Dickens has crafted a story with heroic but not faultless characters that manages to be elegiac, timeless and heart-wrenching, but more so than that speaks to our collective humanity - what we long for, as well as what we would be willing to give up for the ones we love. 

I will say there are some passages that dragged on. But, when all is said and done, I’m probably going to be thinking about this for a long time to come. 

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” - Sydney Carton

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This book is a masterpiece. It was my favourite Dickens when I first read it in 2007, and I'm so glad I picked it up again. The characters are brilliant, the relationships messy, good and evil changing sides and coming from places you wouldn't expect. But despite being one of his heaviest novels emotionally, the classic humour is still there, and doesn't let up at even the bleakest moments. There's also a real sensitivity to mental health for a Victorian novel, in Manette and the way his friends and family support him.

La Guillotine is a spectre that hangs over the final part of the book - a character in herself, devoid of mercy and a constant ominous presence. I see her as an extension of Madame Defarge (who is so complicated, but who I can't help but love in her malevolent knitting righteousness).

The lines are blurred during the Revolution, and what starts as workers' revenge descends into barely justified murder, so you just can't tell whose side you even want to be on by the end. But it's a terrifying example of what brutal class divides can lead to.

This book has one of the greatest endings in literature, as well as some of the greatest opening and closing lines. But I still believe the end is far more complicated than it seems. The tension and emotion are brilliantly built up, and the whole thing lives rent free in my head.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

benegesserwitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism and Classism

Minor: Gore

soph_mills's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Classism

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

At first, the regular repetition of phrases was a bit jarring, but then it grew on me.  There was also a lull in the middle where it dragged but the last third of the book was positively action packed with everything coming to fruition.

Cry count: 2

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism

rishankl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

A beautifully crafted classic. Though hard to read, depicts the life of people during the French Revolution, and has an ending that will never be forgotten.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, and War

Minor: Rape

beth_m_house's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

It was one of the more difficult books I've read in terms of the vast disregard for human life and some of the references were from an age that I am not familiar so I had to use cliff notes, especially in the beginning. The book was slow paced for me up until I got quite involved with the love story of the main couple.  It really picked up in Book 3.  I love the show down in Chapter 14 of Book three -- well worth the 460 pages leading up to it. Overall I liked it though it a difficult read.  It was my first Dickens novel and I'm glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, and Murder

millie_eevee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Gun violence

saint_mikael's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Sydney Carton didn't have the right to hurt me like that..i swear to god. A tale of two cities? MORE LIKE SYDNEY CARTON AND COMPANY

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death