Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

14 reviews

godraed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

It's a work that defies description, a collection of various stories presented as the mythic history of Middle-Earth. It's grand in scope, magisterial in prose, an a marvel to behold. It is Tolkien's darkest work but also contains wonderful pieces of hope that set the stage for his later works. A must-read for any fan of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

This review is for the hardcover edition, which has two maps and contains illustrations from the author. It is an absolutely beautiful edition and looks wonderful on the bookshelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Cursing, Deportation, Suicide, Cannibalism, Confinement, Self harm, Slavery, and Torture

jakepasseri's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

While the prose can be almost biblical and dense, leading to a tough reading experience initially, push past it and youll genuinely find both some of the greatest writing and stories written. Truly a masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Incest, Child death, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Blood, Torture, Murder, Medical trauma, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Grief, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Incest, Racism, Slavery, Animal death, Colonisation, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy, Child death, and Sexual harassment

pejms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, War, and Genocide

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Incest, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Torture, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

This recounts the history of an entire fantasy world, and all the hardships that its people go through. There is a lot that happens, a whole lot.

aisabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, War, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Kidnapping, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Incest, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Colonisation, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child death, Self harm, Pregnancy, Gore, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Slavery, Rape, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Incest

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

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

Tolkien is an absolute genius and I will forever be astonished by him and his work. 

This is a difficult book for me to review because it's a book that's near and dear to me in many ways, but it's also very difficult to review. 

For those of you who are familiar with Tolkien's more famous works like "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and who are yearning to know more about Middle Earth - how it came to be, it's history, the creation of all of it - this is for you. 

This primarily walks us through the events of the First Age of Middle Earth with glimpses into events in the Second Age and Third Age (where the events of LotR and The Hobbit take place). It's rich, detailed and pulls you into a world that's familiar, yet full of many many layers that add to everything. 

A few caveats before going in: (1) this book is best read at a slower pace. There's so much detail and rich storytelling that to rush through this would mean you'd miss a lot of things. This was a reread for me, and it nearly took me two years to finish (due to several factors). (2) If the edition you read doesn't have the letter from Tolkien to Waldman, please do everything you can to find a place to read it (you can find it online in various places). If your edition does have the letter, don't skip it. I know it's tempting, but trust me, it has a lot of important information in it. 

All in all, this is a book I love and cherish and will continue to revisit many times. 

A note on the TW/CWs: hese are tricky because the scope of the book is so vast there are a lot, and yet they're not super detailed while also being present (it's complicated), but some of the more prevalent ones are listed below. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Violence, War, Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Suicide, Death, Confinement, Genocide, Incest, and Murder

trinidad_gondi's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture

kirkspockreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

3.5

I FINALLY FINISHED THIS! It only took me about six tries but I DID IT!

I only give this a 3.5 because of the writing style, but if you can get past that because you’re a Tolkien nerd it’s pretty good. Tons of petty family drama with some real Elf Drama Kweens!

Definitely read this slowly and make good use of the index and family trees because you will be absolutely lost without them. Too many similar sounding names!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Rape

Moderate: Torture, Slavery, Murder, Medical trauma, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, and War

chickentenderness's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

My forever fave. Grief is ever present but hope is eternal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, War, Incest, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail