A review by shieldbearer
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Stalking, Racism, Mental illness, Injury/injury detail, Chronic illness, Murder, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Torture, Slavery, Kidnapping, Fatphobia, Cursing, Animal death, and Body shaming
Death-
Grief- a major theme of the book.
War- while Tolkien is sparse in his descriptions of war and combat, he doesn't shy away from its nature.
Violence- a few one on one instances of various characters attacking each other, including
Suicide/Fire/Fire Injury-
Moderate- One or two references with more plot relevance/time spent beyond a passing reference
Stalking-
Racism- A reference to the Rohirrim hunting the men of the hill for sport, conflict and microaggression between Elves and Dwarves, the Orcs written as an Always Chaotic Evil race.
Mental illness- Eowyn and Theoden exhibit symptoms of depression,
Suicidal thoughts-
Everything under "Minor" is an implication or something referenced once or twice in the text.
Animal Cruelty - Bill the Pony is clearly emaciated and over worked when the heroes buy him, but he and becomes quite healthy and happy.
Animal Death- Snowmane the horse, however, does die, as do other horses used by the Nazgul.
Cannibalism- Gollum is implied to have once been a cannibal ("crept through windows to find cradles") and it is implied that Wormtongue killed and ate
Torture- Gollum was tortured when he was in Mordor,
Slavery- The Dark Lord wishes to enslave all living things, and references are made to his slaves or servants every now and then.
Kidnapping- is nearly kidnapped by the Nazgul, but it's an incident recounted in passing
Fatphobia/Bodyshaming- Fredregar "Fatty" Bolger gets some snark from the other hobbits for being an exceptionally fat hobbit
Cursing- Frodo calls Sam an "ass" during a tense moment