Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Le crépuscule et l'aube by Ken Follett

7 reviews

jlongo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

goldenlake's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Cursing, Genocide, Infertility, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

laurareadsbig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sramac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beanjoles's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

4.5

Amazing audio production - John Lee made the 24 hours fly by! 

This was my first Ken Follett read. I picked it up as a skip-the-line loan on a whim and I’m very glad I did! Other reviewers have mentioned that the characters don’t have a ton of depth, and that’s true, but it was still a really fun, tense, and informative listen. Spoiler for the ending:

Even though I know the ending was way too pat, with the good characters finally getting their heart’s desires and the villains finally being punished, it felt incredible to see our long suffering protagonists have something good happen to them for a change. I was thrilled by Aldred getting his bishopric and Ragna and Edgar getting, at long last, to enjoy their love and be married.

 

One of my favourite aspects of this novel was the keen attention paid to the minutiae of English life in the Dark Ages. I learned about shipbuilding, construction, and life for common peasants. It was interesting seeing the beginnings of the landlord system and how the laws regarded people of different statuses and genders. I also learned a lot about the horrors of slavery practised by the English, something I didn’t realize they’d been doing even way back then. I’d say I enjoyed the book as much for its world building as I did for the plot and characters. 

I liked this enough to put a hold on the Pillars of the Earth, and I’m excited to see where the story goes next! 

A content note: As you might expect of a book written about this era, there is a good deal of sexual violence in this book. Some of it is gratuitous to the plot but does contribute to worldbuilding (unfortunately). Id probably stay away from this book if sexual violence and r*pe are triggers for you. Examples:

Several female slaves are prostituted against their wills, and one of the protagonists is subjected to repeated rapes during a nearly year-long kidnapping that result in an unwanted pregnancy. It’s a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility and Suicidal thoughts

more_books_than_days's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

There are several graphic depictions of women in this story as victims of extreme violence and sexual assault. By the end of the book I was emotionally exhausted by the toll of this constant oppression and powerlessness, which was developed into the fabric of the story from the very beginning. 

With a cast of characters who fell into predictable tropes, either good or evil with little in between, the plot also felt predictable, and very slow moving. I ended up skipping paragraphs and skim reading many pages rather than battling through sections of prose that did little to advance the story. This was a disappointment,
 because I very much enjoyed the Pillars of The Earth trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Grief

reyeames's review against another edition

hopeful slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Rape