Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

8 reviews

bone_dry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Incest, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

josisteacup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Given that it's basically a "history book" that chronicals the events from the creation of Middle-earth up until the end of Lord of the Rings its expected to be quite dense. Therefore its best to approach it like a collection of myths or folktales and read one chapter at a time. Otherwise it might be overwhelming. Especially the first chapters about the creation of Middle-earth can be a bit boring because there isn't much plot.

All in all its interesting and I'm thinking about getting the standalone stories of Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin and The Children of Hurin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Slavery, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

dreamygambit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

I have never loved a book as much as I love this one, I hold it VERY dear to my heart after reading. Don’t let anyone deter you from reading this book, it is worth everyone’s time if more people would give it a chance. Tolkiens work is, to me, always compelling and complex and this is absolutely no exception. I sped through this more difficult book at break neck speed because it is so wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping

this book will make you love a man and then rip him from you arms without remorse

godraed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

It's a work that defies description, a collection of various stories presented as the mythic history of Middle-Earth. It's grand in scope, magisterial in prose, an a marvel to behold. It is Tolkien's darkest work but also contains wonderful pieces of hope that set the stage for his later works. A must-read for any fan of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

This review is for the hardcover edition, which has two maps and contains illustrations from the author. It is an absolutely beautiful edition and looks wonderful on the bookshelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Incest, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Deportation

aisabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

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

Tolkien is an absolute genius and I will forever be astonished by him and his work. 

This is a difficult book for me to review because it's a book that's near and dear to me in many ways, but it's also very difficult to review. 

For those of you who are familiar with Tolkien's more famous works like "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and who are yearning to know more about Middle Earth - how it came to be, it's history, the creation of all of it - this is for you. 

This primarily walks us through the events of the First Age of Middle Earth with glimpses into events in the Second Age and Third Age (where the events of LotR and The Hobbit take place). It's rich, detailed and pulls you into a world that's familiar, yet full of many many layers that add to everything. 

A few caveats before going in: (1) this book is best read at a slower pace. There's so much detail and rich storytelling that to rush through this would mean you'd miss a lot of things. This was a reread for me, and it nearly took me two years to finish (due to several factors). (2) If the edition you read doesn't have the letter from Tolkien to Waldman, please do everything you can to find a place to read it (you can find it online in various places). If your edition does have the letter, don't skip it. I know it's tempting, but trust me, it has a lot of important information in it. 

All in all, this is a book I love and cherish and will continue to revisit many times. 

A note on the TW/CWs: hese are tricky because the scope of the book is so vast there are a lot, and yet they're not super detailed while also being present (it's complicated), but some of the more prevalent ones are listed below. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

edamamika's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-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

5.0

banger. a masterpiece. one of my most favorite literary works ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Torture

it reads almost like the bible. the prose is direct, told through a third-person omniscient lens. kinda confusing at times—you'd have to check the indexes for the family trees and a lexicon for the sindarin/quenya terms.

novelyon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

idk if the gods trapped MY boyfriend outside the world i'd ruin their day too. sauron did nothing wrong...besides getting into a toxic relationship 😔

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Incest, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Rape, Slavery, and Pregnancy