Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

34 reviews

nadia's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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

Nothing beats a big book when you can get fully immersed in the world and the characters, and that's what happened with this 1000-page tome for me! I was intrigued from early on and while, on the whole, it was a slow-paced book, some parts felt like page turners. 

The pacing was a little funny at times and given the investment and build-up to certain parts, I expected some of them to pack more of a punch and to evoke more emotion, but the way they were narrated got in the way and made the story feel a little flat at times.

Still, a great book! Perfect if you love huge books, or are fascinated by 12th Century English history, cathedrals, or the art of constructing grand buildings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

icebrg8's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

marginallist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

princessofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Violence

amomentofmusic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Rape, Torture, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Animal cruelty

novelyon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Grief

lillythebluepaladin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective 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

4.25

This was suuuuuuch a long, but exciting read!!
KEN FOLLETT SERIOUSLY KNOWS HOW TO WRITE TENSE AND EXCITING BOOKS!
My only criticism is probably how much "boobie" talk there was in it, that definetly made it clear that this was written by a middle aged man, BUT his female characters are most of the time greatly written, and the characters being all "booobiee, brrreastss, badonkas" were either extremely "thirsty" or disgusting misogynists, so it sense with their personalities and relationships, and we are talking about the middle ages, so I will let that slide.

Warning tho: This book is very graphic. The medieval ages were not fun to be in, and that is veeery reflected in this book. Check up on content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

ilishii's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful tense 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

I understand why people like this book and why it is a best seller. The pieces and parts of the story came together well, and once I finally got into the story I enjoyed parts of it and was on the edge of my seat for others.
That being said, I was listening to this on audiobook and I had to get 8 hours in before I felt any semblance of being invested in the story. If you struggle with slower-paced books you are going to struggle with this one. There are a lot of pages devoted to the description of buildings (I understand why, but did I enjoy it? No.) and the story is told from multiple points of view spanning decades.
I can overlook and even enjoy all of that, but what got to me and left a bad taste in my mouth was the use of rape as a plot device. It left a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of for the rest of the book. Please read the trigger warnings before you pick this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Torture

mjkienbaum's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

Minor: Sexism and Antisemitism

seanml's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.25

It can be hard to tell the difference between an author’s thoughts and a character’s thoughts. I’m still not entirely sure when a hypersexual thought came from Follett or when it came from 

Tom, or William

. The first half of this book had me unsure, reading through the atrocities of 

William Hamleigh

  in graphic detail, and the sexual emphasis placed on 

Ellen.

  However, by the second half it had gone above and beyond. I’m sure it isn’t perfect, but it is a monumental effort and execution. 8.5/10. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Self harm, Excrement, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation