Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Jordens Søjler by Ken Follett

38 reviews

dkamada's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

80% too long, hated inhabiting a torture rapist’s POV, so little of this book is actually about the cathedral! Hated all the men, only Aliena made this book worth finishing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

edentiefling's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

ricksilva's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

Epic ensemble drama set over a fifty-or-so-year period around the building of a (fictional) cathedral in the (fictional) town of Kingsbridge in (nonfictional) England. Set between the (nonfictional) sinking of the White Ship and the (nonfictional) killing of Thomas Becket.

The story focuses on Prior Philip, who is helped into the leadership position of Kingsbridge Priory by Waleran Bigod, a scheming priest who soon goes on to become bishop of Kingsbridge and one of the book's main antagonists. The other heroes of the story are Tom Builder, a master mason, his stepson Jack, and Aliena, the dispossessed daughter of a fallen Earle, who becomes a prominent businesswoman in Kingsbridge. The other main villain is William Hamleigh, the son of the family that caused Aliena's downfall.

And I do mean villain here. Follett's heroic characters are interesting and likeable. He goes out of his way to make his villains despicable to the point where it becomes heavyhanded. The only things they ever seem to do is to plot to make the lives of the heroes miserable.

It does not help matters that rape is used repeatedly as a plot device, particularly with William, who spends most of his on-screen time contemplating sexual assault when not actually committing it. Most of this isn't necessary to the plot, as it's pretty clear from the start what sort of man William Hamleigh is.

I don't feel like I'm qualified to make issue of the historical accuracy of the setting. I felt like it worked well, and that Follett's love for cathedral architecture shone brightly through the story. The architectural and economic challenges of getting the cathedral built were fascinating, and the backdrop of historical events generally worked well, although there were a lot of times when the ongoing civil war for the Crown was at a stalemate and Follett had a hard time making that interesting.

The ending, which placed a couple of the main character right into the thick of the Becket murder actually felt a bit rushed, which was weird given the length of the novel, but the resolution was a clever callback to the opening of the story and the final scenes were handled well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying and Sexism

directorpurry's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, and War

Minor: Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

kittycaserine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, and War

twonky's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

It’s hard for me to imagine holding on to hatred as long as these characters do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, and War

There’s a LOT of violence, bit it’s the Middle Ages.

julierambaeck's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a 2 star for me, and I think that is entirely my fault for picking this book up. This is not a book for me, and I should've known that. I can see and appreciate that this is a masterpiece, just one I didn't enjoy reading. It was waaaay to violent and explicit. 
I am glad I have read it, but it felt like a chore to get through - it took me two months to get through!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

ebullientbunny's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

themdash's review against another edition

I gave up after the hot forest outlaw raped the main dude who was lowkey dying of exposure/starvation next to his sleeping children literal hours they had just buried their mother and left the infant whose birth killed her to die

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zynkar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, and War