Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

37 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your life. This is book twenty-five on the poster. As with most classics, I kind of struggled with this, but I understood the storyline this time.  

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. These are the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, becomes enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.  

I enjoyed how this book was split into three stories with one side being in France, one being in England and then book three being where all hell breaks loose. I enjoyed the humour and the side characters within this book. They were all so interesting and managed to keep me hooked. Even though it’s got a lot of dark themes, I was also intrigued into the mystery whether the characters were going to survive. The character development between the main characters was another strong point, I went from questioning if these two were even going to be able to get out of the town and by the end they were so badass. I have read two books from Charles Dickens, he seems to have this way of making a journey from start to finish, there was no questions for me to ask, everything was wrapped up in a bow.  

Even though this book was under 300 pages, it felt like it was 900 pages. I am going to assume it’s because of the language and the classic feel to it, but it felt like pulling teeth to get this book finished. Plus, with the obvious political tone and the representation of all female characters being in the kitchen or just staying at home, was driving me nuts but again it was the time when the book was written. 

Overall, I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did due to how I do with classics, however I'm not going to have my hopes up because the next one on the list is Crime and Punishment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, and Mental illness

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Death of parent

justinenoon82's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

3.0

Despite its literary merits, the complexity of the story and writing style can make it challenging to fully engage with in audiobook format.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Alcohol, War, and Classism

The book culminates in a selfless act of sacrifice, where Sydney Carton takes the place of Charles Darnay at the guillotine. This powerful ending explores themes of redemption and the value of a single life in the face of sweeping historical events.

philosopher_kj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Rape

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Police brutality, and Death of parent

shakgraph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was slow paced, which is not the pace that I prefer to read at. I remember liking it in high, so I kept reading. Even though the writing is slow, I appreciated the good writing- the figurative language. I also wanted to know the answer to the mystery of the doctor's past. A lot of sad moments. Horrible moments too. This is a good book to learn the horrors and inefficiency of vengeance from the uprising of any group of people to just have a different set of folks abusing power. Both parties were wrong. The hope is in eternity with Jesus.

The character development of Sydney Carton and Mr. Cruncher were the best parts of the book. Sydney Carton was the character I sympathized with from the start and liked (besides Mr. Lorry and, eventually, Miss Pross). I don't exactly remember where the moment happens, but Carton accepts Jesus and repeats John 11:25 leading up to his death and it is powerful and the truth "...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die,he shall live." I mean- WOW. And you see that the Holy Spirit transforms Carton in that he doesn't get drunk at the end of his life. I was moved by Mr. Cruncher's come to Jesus moment. At the beginning of this book Mr. Cruncher would demand that his wife not pray for him, in fear that she would ruin his "honest" work as a grave robber. He would tell his young son to stop her everytime she prayed(he would say flopped. Lol)to God too. He was such a bad example to his son and a horrible husband. At the end of the book he represents from his sin and tells Miss Pross to tell his wife that she can flop(pray) whenever she wished. The most heart breaking part of the book was what Therese's family and the doctor went through- bone-chilling. Also, the epilogue is fantastic. I like that you hear from Sydney Carton's view in heaven. The last sentence ,my goodness, is so satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Violence

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

helenafaustina's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this! I think it’s underrated, as I’ve always heard that it’s long, slow, and boring, but I found the plot to be really interesting and the characters really awesome. And I love Dickens’s writing, especially with the occasional clever quips and the way he illustrates someone’s character so well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Nothing is inappropriate, but should be for a more mature audience, good for high school.

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

lynniekate's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Rape