Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

27 reviews

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

rideauriverreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Antisemitism

gloriabyrd's review against another edition

dark informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Antisemitism

aether_seawo1f's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Glacial pacing for the first 600 pages, the last 400 are decent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dielilla's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol

expandingmybookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

cheazcakeguy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I only finished this because I read it for a book club. Way too much unnecessarily explicit SA & pedophilia (just because it's "historically accurate" does not mean I want to read full details of a 14-year-old being r*ped by someone twice her age), characters were mostly one dimensional and often more like caricatures, and the pacing was uneven. The plot and the character Philip were the only things keeping me going, as it is ultimately a good story. The descriptions of the cathedral and the building process were also great. However, all of the tension and story beats ended up feeling super repetitive and recycled, and for the last couple hundred pages I was rolling my eyes at the dramatic twists and turns which felt contrived and meaningless at that point. I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it was unremarkable. Hard to recommend, unless you like to read soap operas with one-note characters and you're okay with repeated graphic SA. I suppose if you *really* like drama and architecture, and have extreme patience, this is the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Emotional abuse and War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and War

krosa's review against another edition

This book is clearly trying to be a more nuanced story about medieval history but it can't seem to avoid the "rape is realism" trope seen in so many similar books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

sonygaystation's review against another edition

So many parts of it are boring and when they’re not boring they’re exceedingly graphic. Sex scenes are wholly unnecessary and always written with the male gaze so the woman’s perspective is so unrealistic. I can’t deal with the graphic rape, assault, and abuse; the graphic descriptions of stoning cats; the unrealistic and boring “love” between Tom and Ellen; and the weirdo random anti-semitism sprinkled here and there throughout. I LOVE fantasy but I don’t understand how people can stomach this book and find it not only read-able but actively enjoyable. Y’all have suspect taste

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry