Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

20 reviews

dayoldtea's review against another edition

Go to review page

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who had been raised on Tamora Pierce and who read her first N.K. Jemisin when I was 15, Tolkien seemed quaint and outdated to me.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 I can now report that Tolkien is indeed quaint and outdated - but nevertheless charming and a fun time if you reset your expectations.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]). 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

celery's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hjb_128's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gvstyris's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.

I was surprised by how nostalgic I felt reading this first LOTR volume, which I’ve never read before — the ‘epic’ sense of adventure reminded me a little of reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter as a child. 

I’m rooting for Aragorn and Sam, always <3  (but can’t believe Arwen is so much less present here than the films!) 

But yeah, if we’re being honest, there’s a lot of slightly dull walking around various parts of the wilderness that require patience to get through. 

Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

aceofsphades_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

brogancha's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

3.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

not much to say about Fellowship that hasn't already been said, but as for this edition: Actually it was really quite good! Serkis does great character voices as expected and has a lovely storytelling cadence. I just wish he'd done all the songs justice. Some of them he does render beautifully but it's uneven, with others (especially Tom Bombadil's) being extremely grating
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

manu_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Beautifully written, but a little too slow for my tastes. Clearly all the braincells of the Fellowship are shared by Aragorn, Gandalf and Sam (sometimes borrowed by Legolas and Gimli). It's increasingly hilarious when Frodo attempts to use his non existent braincells, but a bit frustrating too, as the story is told mostly from his perspective.

Frodo is a frustrating protagonist, not because he is afraid of his Quest (which is natural), but because he lacks the charisma his uncle Bilbo had in The Hobbit, and is also unfortunately not very good at picking things up on the fly and adapting like Bilbo. He repeatedly takes action contrary to what Gandalf and Elrond have advised.

That is not to say that Frodo is a bad protagonist. In some instances, his cleverness and quick thinking do benefit his companions, and he (most of the time) has the good sense to follow Aragorn or Gandalf when he himself is in doubt. He respects and listens to the opinions and advise of creatures much older and experienced than him, but still has the common sense to not take their words as gospel. He has good friends who are willing to follow him into death on his Quest.

Its an amazing book, deserving of its title of 'Classic', but maybe not exactly my cup of tea.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kylieqrada's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging reflective 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

3.0

My gut says 3 ⭐️s so I am listening to her. I HAVE DONE IT. I HAVE DONE THE THING. This book has been on my TBR since at least 2014, realistically much longer. I listened to this on audio, since I could never seem to force my eyes to read it. It worked out well, although Rob Inglis singing to me will likely haunt my dreams for the foreseeable future. I didn't hate it. But I also knew all the plot beats from the movie, so who knows how I really feel about the book? I don't think I'm going to be continuing. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings