Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Duna by Frank Herbert

3 reviews

lqne's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Genocide, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

iwi's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

There is little I enjoyed about this story. Unfortunately the views of the author are so blatant that I can't just detach it from real life. There is so much discrimination, I honestly I had to stop and reread like is that really what was said? And yes, every time. I would love to see what other people see that end up loving these stories. I do like the sandworms. But I couldn't even find the characters enjoyable. Paul is revolting in every way to me. The use of religion makes my skin crawl. I think he is a villain. I don't think we are supposed to like him. 

I think part of the intention here was to show how harmful humans and power is. That I can agree with. But I still wish that I liked more about this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, and Slavery

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

blyndwolf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Definitely the most challenging book I've ever read in terms of the sheer density of the thing! That being said, it was digestible enough to thoroughly enjoy, and I really enjoyed exploring this incredibly in-depth universe; especially the philosophy elements! It's almost like Herbert created this entire universe just for the philosophy. It's insanely thorough and thoughtful beyond words. Every action and thought of every character is illustrated beautifully; no element escapes description. This is a literary masterpiece for sure.

I think it can be universally said that the beginning of this book is hard to chew; there is a lot of worldbuilding and lore thrust at you, and a lot of characters to remember. If you grind through it, it doesn't take long before everything starts falling into place, and you wonder how you were ever lost. I will say, though, that this book should get a medal for the amount of times it made me fall asleep. I think I fell asleep over 20 times while reading it; not because it was boring, but because it was so dense. One scene might take 30+ minutes to read, due to the high level of description and detail. The plot also slows down quite a bit in the centre of the book and doesn't pick up again until you're ~80% of the way through

when Paul is reunited with Gurney Halleck

. I also feel like the ending was a bit rushed. 

All in all, I'm super glad I decided to pick up Dune and am absolutely gassed for the movie coming out in October!! I will be there!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and War

Minor: Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, and Rape