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ronan_lesh's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and War
askhualrak's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
onthesamepage's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.5
The audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis is a fantastic way to experience this story. The scene with Boromir towards the end gave me chills.
I think my main issue with the book is the pacing. Nothing much happens in the first half, but once the journey really starts I enjoyed it a lot more. This was a reread for me, but even when I read it the first time, I had already seen the movies, and I think that coloured my experience as well. But at this point it's very unlikely that anyone will pick this up without having that reference point.
It does give me a lot more appreciation for Sam as a character, though.
I think my main issue with the book is the pacing. Nothing much happens in the first half, but once the journey really starts I enjoyed it a lot more. This was a reread for me, but even when I read it the first time, I had already seen the movies, and I think that coloured my experience as well. But at this point it's very unlikely that anyone will pick this up without having that reference point.
It does give me a lot more appreciation for Sam as a character, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief
megj23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and War
dayoldtea's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
It took the Rings of Power coming out to finally get me to buckle down and read this book. My previous attempts all ended because I couldn't get into it. So much walking! Random disconnected events! Absolutely NO women other than a bitchy hobbit aunt!
As someone who had been raised on Tamora Pierce and who read her first N.K. Jemisin when I was 15, Tolkien seemed quaint and outdated to me. I wanted to understand it and be in on the fandom - people seemed to be having fun! - but it wasn't clicking for me and I never could get past the first ~150 pages. The movies came out slightly too early for me to imprint on them (though I did marathon the extended editions with friends as a teenager). I can now report that Tolkien is indeed quaint and outdated - but nevertheless charming and a fun time if you reset your expectations. The problem was that I expected Serious Epic Fantasy when I previously attempted to read this series. While there are Serious Epic Fantasy moments, this world is GOOFY and a playground for a fiddly old academic to dump his pet languages and lore.
LOTR: Rings of Power has made me invested in understanding the world and has given me space to appreciate the original trilogy despite my critiques (seriously, we've met 4 women so far and none of them feel like real people [bitchy hobbit aunt, Goldberry, Arwen, Galadriel]).
As someone who had been raised on Tamora Pierce and who read her first N.K. Jemisin when I was 15, Tolkien seemed quaint and outdated to me. I wanted to understand it and be in on the fandom - people seemed to be having fun! - but it wasn't clicking for me and I never could get past the first ~150 pages. The movies came out slightly too early for me to imprint on them (though I did marathon the extended editions with friends as a teenager). I can now report that Tolkien is indeed quaint and outdated - but nevertheless charming and a fun time if you reset your expectations. The problem was that I expected Serious Epic Fantasy when I previously attempted to read this series. While there are Serious Epic Fantasy moments, this world is GOOFY and a playground for a fiddly old academic to dump his pet languages and lore.
LOTR: Rings of Power has made me invested in understanding the world and has given me space to appreciate the original trilogy despite my critiques (seriously, we've met 4 women so far and none of them feel like real people [bitchy hobbit aunt, Goldberry, Arwen, Galadriel]).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
cursed10fold's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
The narration was fantastic!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and War
Moderate: Violence and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism and Fatphobia
celery's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I wanted to like this so much more than I do... The first half was so slow and so much extraneous information. I thought there would be a lot of more character and relationship building but I should have known how hard into worldbuilding it would dive. I did love Tom Bombadill though. The second half I liked lot more because I just considered it a dnd podcast which it really reads like. I did want more of Arwen, or any woman. I was fully invested by the end and I am curious how I will feel about the rest. I do still like the movie better though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War
hjb_128's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail